


Bittersweet Sixteen

by Astra_M



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst and Romance, F/M, Friendship, Humor, Introspection, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:14:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 55,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25958851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astra_M/pseuds/Astra_M
Summary: Ino is stuck in a romantic rut and Sakura's determined to help her... unfortunately her cure may prove worse than the disease.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru/Yamanaka Ino, Uzumaki Naruto/Yamanaka Ino
Comments: 10
Kudos: 45





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story isn’t firmly based on either anime/manga setting, but would theoretically take place during the Naruto Shippuden arc. Also, while I don’t normally like giving away details at the outset, there is a pairing in this fic that will be featured prominently only as a plot point. If you’ve read my other Naruto fics, you should know exactly who my ‘one true couple’ always is.

On a typical day the main shopping district of Konoha was a living snapshot of its inhabitants caught up in the everyday tasks of life. Here was a group of shoppers haggling with the merchants, over there stood a circle of gossiping friends, children were running around playing _Ninja_ , old men sat watching quietly… All in all, it was a pleasantly interesting frame to stroll through – especially for a certain young couple out on their first date together. They walked side by side down the center of the street enjoying the bustling activity and each other’s company, neither noticing the two upset-looking teenaged _chuunin_ hovering just out of sight behind a nearby stonework partition.

“Whose brilliant idea was _this_?” snarled Sakura, unmindfully crushing to rubble the railing she hid behind.

“I _warned_ you not to get involved,” muttered Shikamaru, glowering darkly at the courting pair. Had Sakura not been so wrapped up in her own worries, she might have noticed and wondered at the tone of his voice.

“I didn’t think it would turn out like this!” she exclaimed, resisting the urge to punch a crater in the ground. “ _Why_ is this happening? They’re not supposed to even _like_ each other!”

Shikamaru said nothing: he was too focused on the familiar long, blonde ponytail now walking away from him, and the way she had casually looped her arm through her companion’s.

_What a troublesome pain this is turning out to be…_


	2. A Blue Day

The trouble began almost two days ago, on a beautiful late summer’s day when the weather was balmy and the early evening sky above was cast in shades of the deepest blue.

Ironically, it also matched Ino’s mood.

She was sitting on a stool behind the counter of her family’s flower shop, looking pensively out the storefront windows at the people passing by on the street. The laughter of a girl caught her attention and she turned to watch, transfixed, at a happy-looking couple pausing to inspect the outdoor display of potted plants. After a few moments, the man leaned intimately towards his companion and whispered something that made her giggle again, and with a grin the two continued on their way.

Slumping over, Ino buried her face in her arms.

She knew this was not typical behavior for her. Ino had always been a positive person, if a bit temperamental (or “high spirited,” as her mother delicately phrased it). She was not given to moping or fretting when something bothered her. Her coping mechanism was as practical as it was predictable: she got angry, she shouted, and then she moved on. But lately it seemed all she could do was sigh and stare off into space, and now even her parents were starting to worry. “Is everything okay, Ino?” they would sometimes ask her, and she would respond with a simple, “I’m fine.” And really, she _was_ fine… more or less. Besides, hers wasn’t a problem _they_ could fix.

And to think, once Ino _had_ thought her parents were at the root of it. After all, they were the ones who had arbitrarily settled on _fifteen_ being that magical threshold that marked the true start of their daughter's life – that day when at last she would be allowed to date and have a boyfriend. Ino had literally waited years just for it to come. And now it was only a few more days until her _sixteenth_ birthday. Shouldn’t she be more excited?

But that was the other part of the problem.

Ino was distracted from her melancholy thoughts by the sound of someone entering the shop. She looked up to see Sakura approaching the counter, a cheerful smile on her face.

“Hi, Ino!”

“Oh… hello, Sakura,” replied Ino dully, placing her head back down on the counter.

Sakura lifted her brows in surprise, unused to such a spiritless greeting from her best friend and rival. Before she could ask anything, however, Ino’s muffled voice was speaking again:

“Sakura… what’s wrong with me?”

“What’s _wrong_ with you?” she repeated, stunned that such a sentiment could ever fall from Ino’s mouth. “What in the world are you talking about?”

“Why don’t boys like me?”

Sakura frowned. Was this all because of that idiot Sai? Well, Sakura _had_ warned Ino right from the start about his being a complete social moron, but Ino hadn’t listened. All it took was one silly compliment to turn Ino’s head; she took every chance after that to flirt shamelessly with the boy. He in turn tolerated her with his unique brand of vaguely polite disinterest and had done nothing to either encourage or dissuade her. Combined with his occasional use of that ridiculous so-called nickname, it was no wonder that Ino acted as she did. 

But even the most ardent admirer will eventually realize when they’re getting nowhere, and it seemed that Ino had finally gotten the point. At the very least Sakura didn’t see her best friend hanging around Team 7 quite as often; even clueless Naruto had remarked on it. From Sai, however, Sakura detected no concern or regret – the loss of Ino’s attentions really made no difference to him. In truth, Sakura privately believed that Sai had always regarded it as some kind of misguided social experiment to learn from. For that alone she itched to smack him around. Now she definitely would, first excuse she got.

“You shouldn’t base your feelings off of that fool Sai,” Sakura said bracingly. “You ought to know by now that he’s thicker than Master Guy’s eyebrows when it comes to handling other people’s feelings.”

“This isn’t about _Sai_ ,” sighed Ino. “Well, maybe he _was_ what started me thinking, but… this is about more than just him.”

“So what’s the real problem?”

Ino lifted her head again. Sakura was taken aback by the dejected expression in her eyes. Since when did a girl as confident and proud as Ino become so uncharacteristically doubtful?

“I just don’t understand it! Haven’t I tried to dress sexy? Don’t I fix my hair and put on my makeup everyday? Aren’t I always taken really good care of my figure?”

“Er… yeah,” agreed Sakura. That was definitely one area Ino had always beaten her hands down in.

“Then _why_ is it guys don’t seem to pay any attention to me? What am I doing wrong? Whenever I meet a cute boy I like, I tease him, I flirt with him, and I make it plainly obvious that I’m interested in him… but no guy _ever_ does anything more with me beyond that. And now I’m almost sixteen – and I’ve never even been _kissed_!”

“Oh, for Heaven’s sake, Ino!” laughed Sakura lightly. “If _that’s_ what has you worked up, you should cheer up. I’m already sixteen, and you know that I haven’t been kissed either!”

“I seem to recall that you came pretty close, though.”

Sakura winced. Well, it had been a near miss, and with _Sasuke_ , too. As if she was going to pass up the opportunity to brag about that!

Noting her friend’s face turning faintly pink, Ino’s eyes grew duller. “And you’ve gone out on a date, too.”

“Yeah, well, that was just with Naruto,” mussed Sakura, thinking back to that odd outing. There had been extenuating circumstances behind it, too… although come to think of it, she didn’t necessarily _need_ to call it a ‘date’ just to get Naruto alone. “And in any case it didn’t really go so great…” she added hastily.

“ _I’ve_ never been on a date. No one’s ever asked.”

Sakura began to shift uncomfortably. Ino sighed and continued to speak.

“You’ve had boys like you – _two_ rather strongly, in fact. Both Naruto and Lee…”

“Naruto’s like an over-eager puppy!” declared Sakura, feeling at last she had the means to undermine Ino’s assertions. “And you know that I don’t like Lee that way! I mean, _I_ never did anything to encourage his interest; that was all _his_ doing… er…”

Grimacing, Sakura quickly shut her mouth – but it was too late. Ino’s voice grew very soft.

“And from all of the girls who ever chased after him, Sasuke never paid attention to a single one… except for you. _You_ got closer to him than anyone else.”

Now Sakura knew something definitely was wrong; her eternal ‘rival in love’ would _never_ have admitted that.

“…Sasuke was my teammate,” murmured Sakura after a moment. She wondered why she was downplaying it; her old self would have gloated and rubbed it in Ino’s face. “That was the only reason why.”

“But you can’t deny that he _did_ care for you, at least a little – even if only as a teammate.” 

Sakura said nothing, feeling a dull ache stir inside. No matter how much things had changed between then and now, and the vast gulf that still existed between them, at least she’d always had _that_ much to comfort her. 

Watching her friend’s face, Ino smiled wistfully. “I couldn’t even say the same thing about _my_ teammates.”

Sakura was taken aback by this assertion. “But surely Choji and Shikamaru care the same way about you!” she insisted. “I mean, what about those earrings you guys all wear?”

Ino tugged absently at her earlobe where a simple stud twinkled. “These earrings originally represented our fathers: the Ino-Shika-Cho thing, you know. We first got them just before we took the _chuunin_ exams for the first time.” Ino suddenly gave a derisive snort. “Personally, I sometimes think they let me bully them into it. I wasn’t about to get a _tattoo_ …”

“I don’t blame you,” muttered Sakura.

“But that’s just _it_ ,” said Ino softly. “It’s not as if… it _really_ means anything. When it comes down to it, they never come looking for me; _I’m_ the one always having to hunt _them_ down.” She stopped playing with the earring and let her hand fall back to the counter. “You’d think even if only as a teammate -”

There was an unexpected interruption as the door to the shop swung open and Naruto bounded inside.

“Oh, _there_ you are, Sakura!” he said cheerfully, walking over to his startled teammate. “I was looking all over the place for you, wondering where you’d gone…” Smiling, he turned to the other girl. “Hey Ino! Stuck alone in the shop again?”

Sakura sent an alarmed glance over at Ino and her heart sank. Her eyes were suspiciously bright and she had on a painfully forced smile.

“I won’t keep you, Sakura. I think I’ll just slip into the back for a while… help Mom with the inventory, you know…”

Without waiting for a reply, Ino hopped off her stool and quickly vanished into a side room. As soon as she was gone, Sakura wheeled around and bonked the foolishly grinning boy on the head.

“What was that for?” asked Naruto, rubbing his head in bewilderment.

“For your brilliant timing as usual, Naruto,” snapped Sakura.


	3. Sakura's Mission

Sakura sat on her bed late that night replaying the scene in the flower shop. There was something surreal about the whole thing: Yamanaka Ino, the flower of the ninja academy, confessing that she was not that popular with the boys. It was ironic, too, that Ino should point out that Sakura had finally beaten her at something without even trying. 

Not that Sakura felt particularly good about it. True, there was a part of her that was gratified by this revelation, but coming at the expense of Ino’s pride robbed it of much satisfaction. And if Sakura was totally honest about it, she didn’t have much of an advantage to begin with. After Sasuke had run away, romance was the furthest thing from her mind. She had thrown herself completely into her apprenticeship, and without even the distraction of Naruto, her personal life had been put on hold. It was only after Naruto’s return that she had begun again to take interest in things beyond work and study.

Ino had spent the intervening years differently. She had gotten over Sasuke’s departure fairly quickly, though she seemed to have kept him as a standard for measuring any other boy who caught her eye. Sakura had lost track of the times that Ino had dropped by to gush about her latest crush or describe her ideal man. Sometimes she felt that it would be better if her best friend wasn’t _quite_ so obsessed with the opposite sex, but that was Ino for you: boy-crazy and bold, and really, what was so abnormal about that for girls their age?

So seeing Ino break down like that had really thrown Sakura for a loop. Yes, she knew that Ino had always wanted a boyfriend – so did Sakura, yet the fact that it hadn’t happened yet didn’t bother her nearly so much. She had worries much bigger than dating right now. But Ino wasn’t the same….

It was obvious that Ino needed help, and so Sakura made up her mind. She was going on a self-appointed research mission in the morning. If the boys of Konoha really weren’t attracted to Ino, then it was her duty to find out why. After all, she would never forget the compassionate gesture Ino had made all those years ago, back when she was a shy little nobody who needed some attention in order to bloom. A little payback was long overdue.

What were best friends for, anyway?

\----------

Being the kind of person who was impatient to start any new undertaking, Sakura left her house early the next morning. But that was the easy part. The challenge was deciding where – or more precisely, with whom – should she start her investigations?

An older boy’s opinion would be nice, but the only ones she knew well were Neji and Lee, which was unfortunate. Most likely Neji would simply ignore the question, finding it completely beneath him. Meanwhile Lee might likely spend the time ardently declaring his undying devotion, and Sakura didn’t know if she could take that much saccharine so early in the morning. Then there were the members of her own team, though this was likewise problematic. Sai was completely out of the question, of course. And as for the _other_ knucklehead…

As if in answer to her thoughts, Naruto suddenly appeared on the street before her. He raised his hand as he sauntered towards her.

“Hey there, Sakura!”

“Hello!” she answered him, smiling broadly. “Just the person I wanted to see!”

This atypical greeting stopped Naruto dead in his tracks, and for a moment he blinked uncertainly at Sakura. Then a hopeful grin lit his face.

“Ah, were you waiting for me? Did you want to go someplace with me today?”

Sakura waved him off good-naturedly. She didn’t find his occasional offers for a date as annoying as before, probably because he didn’t make them quite as often. But she needed to get down to business.

“Listen, Naruto, I need to ask your opinion about something _really_ important.”

Naruto felt his heart skip a beat. _Something really important to her?_ Did this mean what he hoped it meant? 

“Sure! Fire away, Sakura!”

“What do you think about Ino?”

Naruto stared blankly at Sakura, feeling grossly wrong-footed. What was so important about _this?_

“Er… well, she’s all right, I guess.”

“That’s not a very informative answer,” grumbled Sakura, realizing that she would have to be blunt with him. Then she frowned deeply. For some reason she suddenly felt awkward talking to Naruto about this. _Why am I feeling weird? It’s just Naruto, for crying out loud!_

“Um, what I _meant_ to ask is… do you find her, er, attractive?”

“Well, _yeah_ , I guess she’s pretty.” He shrugged. “I dunno; I never really thought about it before.”

The weird feeling evaporated. Sakura attributed her momentary jitteriness to nerves; after all, that kind of question was rather personal… sort of. Even if it _was_ only Naruto. In any case, she had a duty to Ino to persevere.

“So why not? You just said you think she’s pretty. Wouldn’t you _want_ to go out with a girl like her?”

“Who, _Ino?”_ Naruto looked alarmed. “No, I don’t think I would. She’s kind of intimidating, actually.”

_“Intimidating?”_ repeated Sakura, bewildered in turn. “For crying out loud, what’s so scary about Ino?”

Naruto crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed in the odd fox-faced expression that Sakura recognized meant that he was trying to think a little more deeply than usual. In truth, he had been thinking about Ino’s volatile temper, but Sakura’s was just as bad and it didn’t really bother him, did it? And besides, Sakura had been specifically asking about Ino’s _physical_ appeal, right? After a moment, he seemed to have reached a conclusion.

“She’s kind of like those models Jiraiya uses in his _Icha Icha_ novels. Beautiful, the kind guys enjoy fantasizing about, but not like an average, _real_ girl.” He grinned widely. “I guess it’s because she’s a little _too_ sexy, if you know what I mean. Not at all like _you_ , Sakura.”

There was a pause as unpleasant realization dawned on Naruto’s face.

“SHANNARO!!!”

\----------

Sakura stormed around the various training fields of Konoha for almost an hour before finally stumbling across the next two people on her lamentably short list. Fortunately it had been just enough time to cool off so that she could approach with a reasonably pleasant expression. Hitching a smile on her face, Sakura called out to the male members of Team Kurenai.

“Morning, Kiba! Hello, Shino! How’ve you guys been?”

“Yo, Sakura!” called out Kiba as he immediately dropped the stick he was baiting Akamaru with. He gave her face an alarmed once-over. “Did you have an argument with that idiot Naruto again?”

Sakura’s smile immediately vanished.

“That’s not important,” she growled, causing Akamaru to whimper. Giving up the attempt to affix another pained grin, Sakura decided to just get right to the point. “Look, I need to ask you guys something kind of personal.”

Kiba cocked a brow and Shino looked politely curious. Neither said anything more, and so Sakura forged ahead.

“What do you really think about Ino? From a _boy’s_ perspective, I mean.”

“Oh, is _that_ it? Ah, that’s easy. Ino’s _definitely_ the hot type – a total babe,” Kiba said with a wolfish grin. Even Shino’s slight smile seemed to have taken on a leering quality. Sakura fought the urge to roll her eyes. Friends or not, it was still irritating to watch boys acting like hormonal pigs.

“Fine. Then if she’s so _hot to trot_ , why haven’t either of you horndogs ever asked her out?”

“Who, _Ino?”_ laughed Kiba, eerily echoing Naruto. “Heck, no. Don’t get me wrong, she’s pretty and all that, but she’s not my type at all. Besides, the way she jumps from one guy to the next is kind of scary. I may be a wild man but I’m not really into girls who are free and easy.”

“Free… and _easy?!?_ Where did you get an idea like _that?”_ said Sakura hotly, clenching her fists in anger. “Kiba, Ino may be a flirt but she’s absolutely _not_ some kind of preying tramp! For crying out loud, she hasn’t even –!”

Just in time, Sakura bit off the rest of her retort. She was not about to blurt out Ino’s dateless “secret” – although she longed to throw the truth in their smug, knowing faces. How dare they imply such things about her best friend?

“The way _she_ dresses and constantly runs around chasing guys? Well, if you say so.” Kiba shrugged in a way that implied ‘ _yeah right.’_ “In any case, Ino’s way too high maintenance. The girl I’m looking for has to be the outdoors type like me. None of that cushy indoor crap; she can’t be afraid to go out and get dirty. Oh – and must love dogs too, eh, Akamaru?”

Akamaru gave a fierce bark as if to say, _‘You got that right!’_ Sakura laughed weakly, wondering at the fortitude of the girl who would eventually fall for Kiba… and Akamaru. Personally, she didn’t envy her.

“So what about you, Shino?” she asked the other boy, who had remained silent up to this point.

Shino merely shrugged. “Beauty without grace is the hook without the bait.”

_“What?”_

“Let me translate,” said Kiba. “I’m becoming fluent in Shino-ese. Basically, he thinks Ino isn’t very deep.” With a derisive snort, he added: “Of course, there aren’t a lot of ladies out there who find the sayings of dead men utterly _fascinating_ , Shino man.”

Shino stood up and faced both Sakura and Kiba. Without preamble, he began to speak in his soft, darkly melodic voice.

_My constancy to her I love_

_I never will forsake_

_As surely as the Palace Guard_

_Each night their watch-fire make_

_And guard it ‘til daybreak._

The recitation over, Shino walked off. Kiba shook his head, apparently mystified by his teammate’s bizarre ‘outburst.’ Sakura, however, had to admit that it was rather cool to meet a guy who could quote poetry. There were definitely girls who would be attracted to such a mysterious, deep thinking boy… if they could just get past that bug thing first.

\----------

It took Sakura awhile to track down the last two boys on her list, but at least they were conveniently lounging together on the roof of the Akimichi house. Moreover, their opinions were probably going to be more useful than anyone else’s. They were Ino’s teammates, after all.

“Oy, Sakura. What brings you out here?” asked Shikamaru as he opened a drowsy eye.

“Hi Sakura!” said Choji cheerfully through a mouthful of chips. An empty bag already lay at his feet. “Would you like a snack?” he offered generously, pointing towards an untouched bowl of apples sitting nearby. 

Sakura waved off the offer as she took a seat on the ledge opposite them. “No, thanks. And I came up here to talk to both of you. This may seem a little strange, but I really need to ask you something personal. It’s about your teammate, Ino.”

Sakura watched as the two boys exchanged looks. She felt her interest rise – yes, she _should_ have come after Shikamaru and Choji first. After all, they had been teammates for years… _of course_ they would have immediately noticed her depression and been worried about Ino! 

But unaccountably Choji merely resumed snacking and Shikamaru closed both of his eyes again.

“Whatever, Sakura. So what do you want to know?” muttered Shikamaru.

_Scratch that theory_ , thought Sakura disgustedly. Well, she still had a mission to conduct…

“Have either of you ever felt any attraction towards Ino?”

To her surprise, Choji burst out laughing.

“Oh, no – I could _never_ look at Ino that way,” he explained after a moment. “She’s way too much like a sister to me.”

“But you don’t _have_ any sisters, Choji,” pointed out Sakura.

“Yeah, that’s true. I guess what I mean is that she’s what I _imagine_ a sister would be like: loud and a bit too bossy. My cousins are like that, at least.” Choji’s cheeks turned a shade pinker. “But anyway, she’s not really my type. I like girls who are… er… _full-figured,_ and she’s way too skinny. Isn’t that right, Shikamaru?”

Sakura’s attention was drawn to the other boy, who had cracked open an eye and glanced over at his best friend – perhaps out of annoyance. But it was sometimes hard to tell with Shikamaru, who almost always looked that way. Then he turned to Sakura.

“Why are you asking us about _that_ anyway?” Shikamaru asked pointedly.

Sakura sighed. She briefly recapped (without revealing too much) Ino’s depression and Sakura’s subsequent mission to uncover the truth behind Ino’s poor dating record. But when she finally filled them in on the other boys’ comments, however, she was taken aback by the frankness of Shikamaru’s response.

“They have a point. She’s all of that and more,” he said bluntly. “But that’s not the true issue. There are guys who don’t mind those kind of traits in a girl; what attracts or repels is different for everyone.”

“So then… _you’re_ saying there isn’t anything wrong with Ino, right?” Sakura said hopefully.

Shikamaru snorted. “Hardly. I’m flat out telling you that the _real_ problem is that Ino is blind.”

“ _Blind?_ What do you mean by that?” asked Sakura curiously.

“She’s got this stupid obsession with how people look on the outside – as if _that’s_ the most important thing in the world. And she thinks everyone else is the same way; she’s always on some ridiculous new diet, thinking her looks are the only thing a guy cares about. But she never goes past the surface to try and get at what a guy is _really_ like underneath. The guy in question can be a real jackass and treat her and everyone else like garbage, but as long as he’s a _good-looking_ bastard…” Shikamaru, who had been staring up at the sky during this speech, turned to look Sakura directly in the eye. “A lot of girls are like that, actually.”

In spite of herself, Sakura immediately felt defensive as an image of Sasuke leapt to mind. She had liked him for _more_ than just his looks, damn it! Even though, a tiny voice admitted, it certainly _had_ made him all the more appealing… and it helped immensely whenever the attraction became too painfully one-sided on her part. But what right did Shikamaru have to say anything against it?

“What the heck are you implying?” cried Sakura indignantly. “Not every girl is like that!”

Shikamaru continued to stare at her for a moment longer with a skeptical expression. “Maybe not _every_ girl,” he conceded finally, looking away. “But Ino definitely is. Ever since the first day I met her she’s been that way: blindly insisting that beauty trumps character, talent _or_ brains.” 

Sakura frowned, looking uncomfortably down at her sandals. To her dismay, she found she had nothing to say in defense of her best friend.

“Frankly, the reason guys aren’t beating a path to her door is because so few of them fit that annoyingly shallow measuring stick she uses. Ino just doesn’t give anyone a chance.” 

Shikamaru said nothing more, and Sakura sat quietly for a minute, listening idly to the sound of running footsteps from the street below. It was an awful thing to admit about Ino, but Shikamaru was right and she knew it. Ino really _was_ terribly fickle; Sakura was sure part of the trouble with Sai was that Ino only had required some slight attention to fancy herself in love. If only she had looked beyond his face…

“Well, maybe it’s as you said, Shikamaru. Ino’s taste in men leaves something to be desired, and it would be better if she wasn’t so fixated on having a boyfriend. But even so, she’s hurting – and I’m going to help her!”

Shikamaru gave a rude snort and shook his head, and Choji suddenly looked uncomfortable.

“Er, Sakura, I don’t know…” mumbled Choji.

“Be that as it may, it’s still a bad idea to interfere in something personal like that,” interrupted Shikamaru coldly. “Let Ino work out her own romantic problems.”

“Geez, Ino was right about you guys after all,” said Sakura in annoyance as she stood up to leave. “Haven’t either of you noticed how depressed she’s been lately? Don’t you care about her feelings just a _little_ bit? What kind of teammates are you? You ought to pay more attention –”

Shikamaru’s eyes suddenly narrowed and he scowled so deeply that Sakura broke off. _Did I insult him? But he was acting like he didn’t care…_

“I make it my mission to pay attention to the important things regarding _all_ of my teammates, Sakura,” he said tightly. “However, Ino’s romantic life is _not_ one of them.”

“Maybe not to you, but it is to her!” retorted Sakura. “And that’s all the reason I need. Sometimes people just need a little extra push to get back onto the right path, Shikamaru. That’s what friends _do_ for one another. So see you later!”

Sakura waved good-bye as she made her way down the stairs. The two boys watched her go, one looking rather worried, the other quite irritated.

“And sometimes ‘friends’ would do better to leave well enough alone,” Shikamaru muttered darkly.


	4. Ino's Decision

Like her best friend had done the previous evening, Ino sat on her bed next to the window staring out at nothing. She felt numb inside and dispirited – an aftereffect of all the crying she’d just done. She couldn’t help it; she had overheard everything that had been said on the Akimichi rooftop. And it had been a complete accident. 

When Ino got up that morning, she had decided to stop moping over her boy troubles – or at the very least, to go around with a smile and act like she didn’t care. In truth, she really _didn’t_ care about Sai. He was another clueless boy after all, just like Sakura said. And since when did Ino pine over useless idiots? There were plenty of other handsome fish in the sea…

But she really wasn’t in the mood for boy chasing, either. Instead Ino decided she’d pay a surprise visit to those other two ‘idiots’ who called themselves her teammates. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to hang out with them for a change, in a context that didn’t involve a mission or a celebratory meal at the restaurant. Even if all that would likely happen was her watching Choji eat and Shikamaru doze for an hour. Still, in spite of what she’d told Sakura, Ino had always known there was more to their earrings than just a tribute to their fathers. It was a special bond all their own…

So what a surprise it had been when Ino rounded the corner and spotted Sakura’s pink hair shining from the ledge of the Akimichi roof. It was a clear, windless day and Sakura’s voice carried clearly to the street below, and Ino didn’t need to rely on her espionage training to overhear what was being said. She just stood and listened. And then she realized something.

They were talking about… _her?_

Ino froze, stunned by their conversation. It was awful. Hearing Sakura repeating the dismissive comments made by the other boys in their year was mortifying; doubly so when adding Choji’s and Shikamaru’s presence. Naruto thought she was oversexed? Kiba thought she was easy? Shino thought she was a flake? _Choji_ thought she was _too skinny?_ What in the world was Sakura _doing?_ Ino was filled with such fury that she almost lost it right there and was on the verge of screaming out something vile at her so-called ‘best friend’ – but then Shikamaru spoke up.

And to Ino’s shock, what _he_ said about her was the worst part of all.

_Ever since the first day I met her she’s been that way: blindly insisting that beauty trumps character, talent or brains. Frankly, the reason guys aren’t beating a path to her door is because so few of them fit that annoyingly shallow measuring stick she uses._

_Ino just doesn’t give anyone a chance._

It had taken several seconds for those words to fully penetrate her, and when they _had_ all she could do was gape stupidly up in the direction of his voice, completely at a loss for words.

_Shikamaru… what the heck are you_ saying _about me?_

Ino’s first thought was that she should be angry with him, and she _was_ … but it wasn’t the indignant fury she expected. Instead she felt deeply hurt – and completely bewildered by this uncharacteristic feeling. Since when did Shikamaru’s comments matter so much? She’d heard him say sarcastic things about her before. Many times, actually. She’d also said perhaps more than her fair share about _him_.

Somehow, this was different.

It mattered because unlike the others, she respected Shikamaru’s opinion very much. True, she thought him a slacker, prone to listlessness and a complainer. But she couldn’t dismiss him out of hand, because whatever other faults he had, Shikamaru was no fool. He was honest and he wouldn’t lie to spare someone’s feelings, but he wasn’t malicious or cruel. And he was an excellent judge of character. However unpleasant to hear or however much she disagreed, Ino knew Shikamaru’s words always had a grain of truth and wisdom in them.

And Shikamaru had called her _blind_.

How Ino would have laughed at that if she’d only heard it a month ago! She would have uncharitably attributed everything to Shikamaru’s alleged jealousy of the stronger, handsomer boys of the village. What a bitter irony to finally realize that he had never been jealous of them… really, had nothing _to_ be jealous about. All those other boys really _were_ a bunch of overrated, egotistical jerks.

Why had it taken _her_ so long to see it, too? Again she heard Shikamaru’s words echoing through her mind:

_She’s got this stupid obsession with how people look on the outside – as if_ that’s _the most important thing in the world._

It was absolutely true. She’d been obsessed with beauty almost from birth. Maybe it was a side effect of having good-looking parents or the artistry of working in a flower shop, but Ino had always had an eye for the attractive. It had always been important to her… and everyone else with good sense and taste. Or so she had believed. Score another one for Shikamaru. And he’d had even more to say on that point:

_But she never goes past the surface to try and get at what a guy is really like underneath. The guy in question can be a real jackass and treat her and everyone else like garbage, but as long as he’s a_ good-looking _bastard…_

Ino smiled bitterly. Coming from the mouth of a boy she often dismissed as little more than a ‘lazy bastard,’ _that_ particularly hit home. She had only ever liked cute guys – and _every_ single one of them had ignored her and treated her like dirt. It was a disturbing pattern that began with Sasuke and extended most recently to Sai…

Ino couldn’t understand it. _Why_ had she allowed them to treat her that way? Since when had she fallen so low that she would turn a blind eye to such callous, boorish behavior? Wasn’t _she_ supposed to be the one with all the self-esteem?

It was so _humiliating_.

So Ino had done the only thing she could think of: she’d run back home and shut herself up in her bedroom, and had a good, cleansing cry. She’d followed this with a fitful nap, curled up underneath a blanket. After that, Ino was surprised to discover when she got out of bed that she wasn’t angry at Sakura anymore. Or Shikamaru. Or even any of the others, no matter how hurtful she’d found their comments. 

No, she was just incredibly ticked off with _herself_.

Ino crossed the room and sat in front of the vanity mirror. She tilted her head experimentally, trying to envision the spunky, short-haired girl she’d once been, who hadn’t preoccupied herself with trivial things like _dumb boys._ She wondered if that girl was gone for good…

There while she stared deeply into her reflection’s eyes, Ino suddenly made a promise to herself.

“If I’ve always been too hard, too shallow, or too fickle about the boys I’ve always liked… then starting right _now_ , I’m going to make a change. I won’t ever let a boy’s looks alone be my guide anymore.” An angry, determined glint came into her eye. “I’ll prove to everyone that I’m not some silly, shallow, _stupid_ girl!”

Ino took a deep, steadying breath. The last part was the hardest, yet perhaps the most important part of her new resolution:

“And if some boy should ever show an interest in me or ask me out – I’m not going to dismiss him out of hand like I would have before. I’m going to give him a fair chance… no matter _who_ he is.”


	5. Miss Match

After concluding her “research mission,” Sakura had spent the rest of the day and much of that evening replaying all the things she’d learned about Ino and boys. She couldn’t help feeling troubled and even somewhat guilty – a lot of what had been said was brutal, especially Shikamaru’s comments. And he was her _teammate!_ Good grief, there was absolutely _no_ way Sakura would ever tell Ino any of this… she certainly would have felt hurt or deeply offended if _she’d_ been the subject under discussion! But then _how_ was she supposed to help her best friend if she couldn’t clue her in? 

But a good night’s rest and a fresh morning gave Sakura a new plan for tackling Ino’s depression. She decided that she had been going about this the wrong way. Getting to the root of Ino’s problems was not the answer; she just needed to boost her best friend’s ego a bit, and Ino would take care of the rest herself. She’d bounce back to her old, over-confident self in practically _no_ time!

Of course, there was really only one thing that would work in this situation, and Sakura felt like smacking herself when it finally hit her. It was as simple as it was obvious: she was going to get someone to ask Ino out on a date.

However, it turned out that this was easier decided than done. Sakura simply didn’t have the wide range of social contacts that Ino had. As with the previous day, she had a pitifully short list of candidates to work with, and most of them were self-eliminating. Neji, for instance, she knew would have refused point blank, but she might have been able to persuade Lee. Unfortunately, Team Guy had left on a mission that very morning and weren’t expected back for a week. The remaining boys were likewise iffy: Kiba, Shino, and Choji all plainly weren’t interested. Shikamaru had been outright rude about the whole thing. Sai was a non-issue. That really only left one person… 

Sakura sighed as she banged loudly on the apartment door. Then again, _he_ might only reinforce Ino’s feelings of utter desperation. _Still, beggars can’t be choosers_ , Sakura reminded herself as the door swung open.

“M-m-morning, Sakura!” greeted Naruto, attempting to stifle a yawn.

“Er, may I come in?” she asked nervously. “I need to ask you something.”

The sleepy-looking blond boy stepped aside, appearing puzzled but nevertheless pleased as Sakura slipped past him into the apartment. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he turned to face his teammate, his curiosity piqued. It was unusual for Sakura to drop in like this when they didn’t have a mission to undertake.

“So what’s up?”

To Naruto’s growing concern, Sakura suddenly turned faintly pink. She seemed to be struggling with something. But before he could say anything, she templed her hands before her in a gesture of supplication and bowed towards him.

“Naruto, as a huge favor to me… _please_ ask Ino to go out on a date with you.”

“What?” yelled Naruto, startled fully awake by this unexpected request. “You want _me_ to go out on a date… with _her_? But why?!?” He turned away abruptly, a highly perturbed expression crossing his face. Sakura waited with bated breath for a few moments until Naruto finally looked back at her. He had plastered on a rueful half-grin. “Hey… are you trying to set me up with her?” he asked softly.

Sakura flushed red, a strange feeling of discomfort shooting through her. “It’s _not_ like that! It’s only because… well, Ino’s been really down lately and I think it would be good for her if someone, you know, _flattered_ her a bit by asking her out on a date. That’s _all_.”

Naruto’s eyes seemed to grow lighter, but his expression of confusion deepened. “But Sakura… isn’t that _toying_ with a girl’s heart?”

“It’ll be okay!” snapped Sakura defensively. “There’s no need to worry, anyway – Ino will definitely turn you down _flat_. But the _real_ point is to make her feel desirable. It’ll be good for her ego!”

“Er… but what about _my_ ego?” asked Naruto with a weak laugh.

Sakura waved this aside. “Oh, come on, Naruto, _please_ do this for me! I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t really important. And it’ll be _our_ little secret. Just ask Ino for a date – that’s all!”

“Well… okay,” he mumbled. Watching Sakura’s eyes shine in gratitude, Naruto couldn’t help smiling even as he sighed.

_I just can’t say no to Sakura._

\----------

Ino was once again alone in the flower shop manning the register, but today she was humming softly to herself as she worked. It was a dramatic turnaround and even she couldn’t exactly put her finger on what was different. She had woken up that morning and had gone through her regular routines the same as always, but there was an unusual lightness in her heart. Overall she felt cheerful and was acting much more like her old self, if somewhat more reflective than usual. Whatever the reason, Ino welcomed the change. She was heartily sick of all the moping.

The sound of shuffling footsteps drew her attention towards the front entrance, and Ino abruptly stopped humming. She was astonished to see Naruto walking towards her.

“Sakura isn’t here,” she said automatically.

“Huh? Oh, right… no, I’m not looking for Sakura.”

Ino raised a brow as she watched Naruto curiously. For some reason he was acting flustered and he wasn’t making eye contact with her, but neither did he turn around to leave. Instead he began staring at one of the vases on the counter and seemed to be inordinately interested in examining the price tag. Bewildered by this odd behavior, Ino was on the verge of saying something when he suddenly looked up at her.

“Er, Ino… could I ask you something?”

“Go ahead,” she answered, pausing over the flower arrangement she had been working on.

“You know, if there was someone you… uh, knew for a long time and then one day it sort of hit you that you… er, maybe kinda… _admired_ them, and… uh… you didn’t know _how_ to tell that person… er… but maybe you thought you’d kinda like to get to _know_ them a little better first… um…”

Ino’s eyes grew bigger as she patiently listened to Naruto bumbling through his question. Now _this_ was unexpectedly cute – and intriguing. For as long as Ino could remember, Naruto had _never_ been secretive about his feelings for Sakura. Also, from what Sakura had said and Ino herself had witnessed, he certainly wasn’t shy about his efforts to pursue Sakura, though he’d gotten much less obnoxious about it. So if Naruto was acting all nervous now… it must be because of someone _else_.

_Interesting!_

One of the things Ino loved about working in a flower shop was how much she learned about various people’s relationships. It was like having a finger on the pulse of Konoha’s romantic and social network. It was also probably another reason why spies ran in her family – it was hard to keep secrets from an astute florist. Ino flew down the list of possibilities. To be sure, it wasn’t a very _long_ one (this was Naruto, after all), but after a few moments one girl’s face sprang to mind.

"Well, if it's about romance, you've come to the right place for advice, Naruto," said Ino brightly as she flashed the anxious boy a winning smile. Never mind her own woes of the heart; this was a matter of personal pride! "If you want to get the attention of a shy person like Hinata, you should be subtle about it. Try getting her alone to talk, the less distractions the better. Also, giving her a single flower would be a nice touch and not too overwhelming like a whole bouquet. The goal is not to _scare_ her - just be gentle and patient and you'll see. You'll get to know each other in no time!”

She paused in her lecture to see if Naruto was getting everything but instead found him staring at her strangely. Even the odd whisker-shaped scars appeared to be drooping.

“What does Hinata have to do with this?” he asked, genuinely confused.

Ino sighed. She was half tempted to outright tell him but decided against it. Hinata hadn’t asked for help, and this was something he really ought to figure out on his own.

“Sorry, my mistake. It was just a guess.” Ino leaned forward to examine Naruto's face, noting that he seemed to be growing more fidgety by the second. “So who’s the lucky girl?” she teased.

Naruto gulped. He supposed now was as good a chance as any he’d get.

“Um, Ino… actually…” Naruto’s mouth suddenly flattened into a thin line, and Ino was startled by the determined gleam that came into his eye, as if he were about to fight a battle. She noticed that he was looking at her more steadily now.

“I was wondering if… if you’d be interested in going with me somewhere tomorrow. Just for fun, you know… for a few hours… alone with _me_.”

There was a pause.

“Wha… _what_?” sputtered Ino, looking completely flabbergasted. 

Naruto cringed at the expression on her face. “Er… never mind,” he sheepishly ran a hand through his hair and turned away from Ino. “Look, I’ll just be going now.”

Ino stared as Naruto began to walk towards the exit. It was like being blindsided by a tidal wave – a mess of confused and conflicted thoughts crashed through her mind, and all she could concentrate on was the grossly improbable absurdity that caused Naruto to say something like that barely a day after she’d made such a momentous promise to herself…

“W-wait, Naruto!” Ino called out to him. She came out from behind the counter. “Did you just ask me out… on a _date?_ ”

Naruto paused and gave an embarrassed chuckle. Even though he’d been expecting this reaction and he had no romantic feelings for Ino, it still hurt. It was yet another reminder of all the rejections he’d endured in life.

“Ah, it was just thought,” he said, forcing a hearty smile. “No hard feelings, right?”

“… I’ll go with you,” said Ino softly.

He was only a step from the door when her words finally penetrated his brain. Naruto swung back around and stared incredulously at Ino.

“Er… _what_ was that?”

“Yes, I’ll go out with you, Uzumaki Naruto,” repeated Ino, more loudly this time. “On a _date_.”


	6. Aftershocks

A short while later found Naruto wandering around the streets of Konoha utterly dazed. What the heck had just happened?

He was still trying to process it all. For some unfathomable reason, the girl he desired above all others had shown up on his doorstep that morning begging him to ask out her best friend. And this even though Naruto was certain Sakura had to know how he felt about her. He, of course, had submitted to her request, though it had gone against his personal wishes. After all, Naruto couldn't bear to disappoint Sakura, and just like her believed that there was no way in a million years that Ino would actually say yes to him... except she had.

_Why?_

Much as it frustrated him, Naruto always knew he wasn't in the category of 'hot' guys like Sasuke - the type that girls like Ino exclusively went for. He'd reluctantly agreed with Shikamaru on that point: boys like _them_ just didn't get the girl. Coupled with this mystery was the absurd readiness with which Ino had accepted him. Frankly, he'd been half expecting to be thrown out of the flower shop. Or worse, laughed at.

And now he, Uzumaki Naruto - probably the _least_ eligible teenage boy in all of Konoha, had just landed a date with perhaps one of the hottest teenage girls in the village (although in his opinion, no one would ever hold a candle to Sakura).

There was something just not _right_ about this.

"Oy, Naruto! What’re you doing here?" came a familiar, friendly drawl. 

Naruto looked around to see Shikamaru ambling down the street towards him and felt a jab of relief. Maybe a friend could help him finally make sense of it all...

Meanwhile, a curious expression crossed Shikamaru's dark eyes as he took in Naruto's dazed countenance. "Hey, what’s up with that moonstruck look? Did Sakura bean you again?" he joked mildly.

“She said yes,” blurted out Naruto. Funny, even saying it out loud didn't make it any easier to accept.

"Huh? Said yes to what?"

Naruto stared at Shikamaru dumbly, too insensible to realize that he was rambling. “I asked her if she wanted to go somewhere with me… and she said _yes_.” Maybe if he kept repeating it out loud, it would finally sink in. “Hey, Shikamaru - do you think she _likes_ me?”

Shikamaru, who had been doing nothing more than enjoying a peaceful stroll through downtown Konoha, was starting to regret his decision to forgo his regular afternoon rooftop nap. Something about the glazed sheen in Naruto’s eyes spoke of trouble and generally anything that got the blond boy that worked up meant annoyance for him. Still, his analytical mind couldn’t help sizing up the situation. He supposed he couldn’t really fault Naruto’s befuddlement: Sakura must have finally taken pity on him. 

_Heh. Guess there’s something to be said for sheer dogged persistence._

Recalling the incident where Naruto had once tried teasing him for walking alongside Temari, Shikamaru broke into a knowing smirk. “Why are you asking me for? Just ask Sakura while you’re out together on your _hot date_.”

Naruto suddenly turned pink. “Er... it wasn’t Sakura,” he murmured sheepishly.

Shikamaru’s smirk turned into a surprised grin. What was this? Did he really hear that right? The infamous Uzumaki Naruto had asked a girl _other_ than Sakura out on a date - and had actually been _accepted_?!?

Heck, maybe there _was_ such a thing as divine justice after all.

Armed with this new piece of information, Shikamaru couldn’t help taking a guess. Never mind his shock that Naruto had finally given up on Sakura, what girl out there was humble enough to _deign_ to be seen in public with the village pariah? And actually seemed _interested?_ Only one person came to mind...

Shikamaru grimaced. Great, now he was resorting to relying on one of Ino’s wild hunches. What was the world coming to? But he had to concede that when it came to affairs of the heart, Ino knew what she was talking about. She had been the first to sniff out the truth between Asuma and Kurenai, after all.

“Geez, Naruto, I think she’s liked you for a long time now. You just never noticed. She’s really shy, you know.”

“ _Shy_?” repeated Naruto incredulously, shooting him an odd look. “Heck, Shikamaru - I would have thought that _you_ of all people would have called her bold!”

“ _Bold_?” scoffed Shikamaru. He let out an amused chuckle. “Who, Hyuga Hinata? Are you crazy?”

“Er... what does _Hinata_ have to do with this?” Naruto scratched his head in a puzzled gesture. “I was talking about Ino.”

There was a moment of silence.

“...Excuse me?” muttered Shikamaru quietly, the amused tone vanishing from his voice. “Who was that you just said?”

“Ino. You know, your _teammate_ \- Yamanaka Ino!”

A mysterious feeling overcame Shikamaru as he stared blankly back at Naruto. Then he suddenly recalled Naruto’s reputation as a prankster and his lip curled knowingly.

“Yeah, right!” he scoffed. “Come on, Naruto. You don’t need to kid around with me about something like that. Seriously, who was it?”

Naruto was taken aback. “I’m not joking! I’m _really_ going on a date with Ino!”

For a few painful seconds, Shikamaru could feel his mouth freezing in its forced smirk. Then his lips twisted into a frown as a succession of confused thoughts gripped his mind. More perplexing was the sense that he wasn’t assessing the situation in his normally calm manner. For instance, right now Shikamaru had the inexplicable urge to call Naruto a liar - but no, he knew Naruto better than that. Still, there was something annoyingly insufferable about the vaguely pleased grin plastered across his stupid face.

“She doesn’t like you,” he said flatly. It surprised Shikamaru that he felt some satisfaction at seeing Naruto’s smile falter.

“How do you know?”

He snorted. “You’re not her type.”

“So what’s her type?”

“Any guy who’s strong, talented, and most importantly _good-looking_ \- in other words the total opposite of uncool.” Shikamaru shot him a pointed look. “And certainly not anyone already on the lowest rung of the social pecking order.”

“Oh, yeah?” Naruto was growing angry. He was forced to agree - he’d been thinking the same thing himself - but damn it, why did Shikamaru have to rub his face in it? “Well, if I’m such a _loser_ , why would she say yes then?”

“How the hell would I know why she ever does anything?”

“So maybe you’re wrong about her!” cried Naruto, though he felt doubtful about that.

“Get real! She doesn’t _like_ average guys like you and me!”

“Who are _you_ calling average? Don’t forget that some day _I’m_ going to become the next Hokage!” Naruto emphatically pointed his finger at Shikamaru’s face. “I’m not a lazy, whining slacker who gives up too easily!”

Shikamaru unconsciously clenched his fists. “No - instead _you’re_ just the biggest flipping idiot in the entire village!”

There was an uncomfortable moment as the two boys faced off, their normally friendly camaraderie suddenly replaced by a battle-hardened wariness. Naruto lowered his head to glare at Shikamaru and brought his fist up.

“You trying to pick a fight?”

They stared at each other a few more tense seconds. Then Shikamaru let out a disgusted snort.

“Oh, _forget_ this.” Shaking his head in annoyance, he jammed his hands into his pockets and turned away. As he trudged down the street, however, Shikamaru couldn’t help feeling somewhat shaken by his unusual reaction to Naruto’s news. Or why he still couldn’t shake off the irrational desire to _hit_ something.

\----------

Elsewhere, an irritated Sakura was anxiously scanning the streets of Konoha for signs of her tardy teammate. She had made plans with Naruto to meet up with her right after his ‘mission’ with Ino, at the Ichiraku Ramen Bar no less - but Naruto had failed to show up. Wondering at what could possibly have caused him to be late for a ‘date’ with his favorite food, Sakura had set off in search of the foolish boy. It took a good fifteen minutes before she finally spotted his spiky blond head skulking along the sidewalk ahead of her, seemingly in perfect health - which was more than enough cause to fully stoke her annoyance at his having needlessly worried her. _Honestly, that idiot!_

Calling out his name, Sakura stormed up to Naruto, prepared to let him have it full blast. But just as she was about to start yelling, Naruto swung around to face her and the rebuke died in her throat: the blazing look in his electric blue eyes had brought her up short.

“What... what are you so _mad_ about, Naruto?” Sakura asked uncertainly.

Naruto scowled angrily. “Ah, that _jerk_ Shikamaru, calling me a loser -!”

Sakura blinked in surprise; that didn’t sound like Shikamaru at all. As far as she knew he and Naruto got along well - at least, their relationship was nothing like that between Naruto and Sasuke. Or Sai.

“Well, what happened?” she prompted.

“He wouldn’t believe me when I told him that I asked Ino out on a date, just like you asked me to - and she said yes!”

“ _WHAT_?” shouted Sakura. She stared at Naruto in stunned disbelief.

Naruto mistook her outburst for sympathy. “Yeah, can you believe it? Like I’m some kind of social leper who’s too much of a _freak_ to ever land a date with a girl! I guess I’m just not _good_ enough for someone like his teammate - the lazy _bastard_!”

As Naruto continued his angry tirade against ‘that idiot Nara,’ Sakura said nothing. She was too preoccupied by wrestling with her own conflicted feelings. An uncomfortable sense of foreboding seemed to be hanging over her as she gazed uncomprehendingly at Naruto.

_Ino said yes?!?_

“B-but… she was supposed to say _no_ …” she murmured softly.

Naruto suddenly recollected himself. His anger quickly dissipated as he caught sight of Sakura’s face, and he looked abashed.

“Er… yeah,” he laughed nervously. “I guess that means I’m going to have to take her out now. Are... are you okay with that?”

For an odd moment Sakura felt as if she had lost the ability to think, much less speak. Something about the way Naruto was looking at her made her feel as if she was teetering on the brink of a chasm - one that she was deeply afraid to fall into. Then her mouth seemed to move on its own.

“Why wouldn’t I be okay with that?”

Naruto merely smiled sadly. “Ah, yeah… I guess you would. Well… I’ll catch you later, Sakura.”

She watched him walk off in the direction of his apartment, still feeling too flummoxed to move. As Naruto rounded the corner, Sakura felt a sharp pang in her chest. She unconsciously lifted a hand to massage the spot over her heart as she finally allowed the most insistent of her troubled thoughts to surge to the forefront of her mind.

_There’s something just not right about this!_


	7. Dating Strategies

Naruto leaned against the ledge of a balcony staring off at the distant faces on Mount Hokage. He’d come up here to cool off after his encounter with Shikamaru, which he still could not make heads or tails of - what the hell had set _that_ off anyway? He’d really expected Nara to be more sympathetic about the whole thing than anyone else. Well, whatever it was that had gotten that bum’s shorts twisted in a knot would have to wait. Naruto had a much bigger problem to focus on.

_So now I have a date with Ino... great. What am I supposed to do with her, anyway?_

He wracked his brain fruitlessly, frustrated at his lack of ideas. It was strange. He’d spent so much time pursuing Sakura just trying to get her to agree to a date that now when the event finally arrived he realized that he hadn’t put any thought into what came next. Plus, that ‘date’ they’d once shared had really been more of an intense conversation about Sasuke than an actual outing. It almost didn’t count. Of course, just _being_ with Sakura had always been the ultimate goal - Naruto didn’t really care all that much about what they did so long as they were together...

Nope, this was not going to be enough with Ino, however.

Naruto sighed. Why hadn’t anyone warned him that getting the girl to agree to go out with you was only the _first_ step in a complicated task? There should have been a whole training class on it back at the academy!

He suddenly slammed his fist into his hand. 

_Ah, that’s right. I’ll bet Iruka-sensei would have some good advice for me!_

\----------

Upstairs in her bedroom, Ino was sitting before the vanity and gazing pensively at her reflection. It had been only a short while ago that she had agreed to go out with Naruto, yet somehow the time since then seemed to be dragging slowly by. After the initial shock had worn off, she was not sure what to make of the mixed feelings she was now experiencing. Was she excited to be finally going on her first date? Was she nervous about how it would go? And what would everyone say when they saw _who_ she was going out with? Thinking about that more deeply, perhaps she _had_ been too hasty...

As she pondered this, a shadowy face seemed to appear in the mirror next to her. Ino grimaced, imagining she could now see Shikamaru’s deadpan expression as he’d delivered his frank assessment of her personality to Sakura the previous day. She could still hear his voice echoing inside her head: _Ino is blind._ Reminded again of the reason behind the promise she’d made, Ino smiled wryly at the reflection.

_Hmph... I wonder what he would think about this now?_

Then to her astonishment, the face broke into a familiar pout and a pair of dark brown eyes blinked back at her. “Hey, Ino,” it said.

Whipping around in the chair, Ino screamed.

Startled, Shikamaru lost his grip on the window ledge and tumbled forward into the bedroom. With a groan, he rolled over and began to sit up - and was immediately struck in the face by two small, blunt objects in rapid succession. He threw a hand up protectively.

“Stop it, Ino! It’s just me!” he hollered.

Peeking through his fingers, Shikamaru was somewhat unnerved to see Ino standing over him, wielding a large hand mirror threateningly. Coming to her senses, she dropped the makeshift weapon and stared at him in unflattering astonishment.

“What the _heck_ do you think you’re _doing_ , Shikamaru? I thought you were some kind of peeping Tom pervert!” Ino blushed furiously, considering the implications. “I could have been _naked_ in here, you know!”

Shikamaru sent her a pained look. “As _if_ ,” he mumbled, turning faintly red.

“So knock on the door like a normal person then!” she shot back, snatching up her slippers.

He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose gingerly. “Seemed like too much trouble, seeing as your window was already open.”

_Typical_ , thought Ino as she crossed her arms and looked down her nose at him. “You know, teammate or not, my father will have your head if he ever catches you doing something like this again!”

“Yeah, I’ll be sure to keep _that_ little gem of advice in mind,” Shikamaru muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes at her. “Although if you ask me you’re doing good enough _defending your honor_ on your own.”

Ino scowled. Much as she longed to fire back at him, however, she was still much too thrown by Shikamaru’s behavior to adequately form a reply. What the heck had possessed him to climb through a bedroom window like that anyway? It was just... _so_ not like him. On top of that, Ino also didn’t feel equal to facing him just yet, not after yesterday’s horrible revelations - even though she knew Shikamaru was unaware of his role in the affair. At least she had the excuse of being ticked off at him to cover for the awkwardness she felt in his presence. Speaking of which...

“So what’s the mission, Shikamaru? And why is it so blasted urgent that you had to burst into my room just to tell me?” Ino’s angry face quickly became serious as she regarded her surly teammate, recalling a scene from the past. “... or is it a secret one?” she asked, suddenly anxious.

He snorted ruefully. “There’s no mission.”

She looked at him curiously. “Then why...?”

In response Shikamaru got to his feet and leaned back against the window sill. For a minute he said nothing, instead fixing Ino with a piercing gaze that she found strangely unnerving. She thought that he appeared to be unusually annoyed, though she was unable to tell if it was with her or with himself.

“I ran into Naruto a little while ago. He mentioned something... interesting. About going out on a date - with _you_.” She noticed the crease between his brows deepening. “So is it true?”

Ino’s eyes widened, taken aback that _this_ was the reason behind her teammate’s atypical visit. “... _Yes_ , it is,” she finally answered, aware that she was blushing again and perturbed that something like this was actually making her feel embarrassed in front of Shikamaru. She felt her heart begin to speed up, however, and an unexpected eagerness filled her. Maybe he would see that she wasn’t so fickle about boys anymore...?

But Shikamaru’s scowl only increased. “But you don’t even _like_ Naruto,” he said flatly, the tone of his voice leaving no room for argument.

Ino frowned. “I do _so_ like Naruto! He’s just a little... unusual.”

“ _Unusual_? For the record, you’ve called him a freak, a weirdo, a jerk, a loser, a -.”

“All right!” she snapped defensively, annoyed at Shikamaru’s power of recollection. “So maybe in the past I said some of those things about him...” Ino paused, once more hearing Shikamaru’s voice intoning the word ‘ _blind_.’ She unconsciously clasped her hands and sidled up to him. “But did it ever occur to you that I could change my mind? That maybe I could... _see_ beyond all that?”

Ino cast him a hopeful look, but Shikamaru merely cocked a brow in a plainly skeptical manner. Then the expression on his face became curiously subdued.

“So... you’re saying that you _do_ like him then,” he mumbled quietly. Shikamaru suddenly broke eye contact and glanced away over her shoulder. He had a distant, coolly disinterested look on his face. “But why the coyness, Ino? You can tell me, you know,” he added, sounding supremely bored. “It’s not like I’m going to _tease_ you.”

“Huh?” said Ino, bewildered by the rapidly fluctuating moods Shikamaru seemed to be undergoing. “I didn’t say that I liked him like _that_.”

His eyes quickly snapped back onto hers. Something indefinable flashed across his face, hesitated uncertainly, and then the cool expression flickered back into place. “Ah. Then... are you playing _games_ with him?”

She gaped at him. “ _What_?”

Shikamaru’s gaze darkened into an accusatory glare. “Well, Ino, if you don’t _like_ him, then _why_ are you going on a date with him?”

“Why... why _shouldn’t_ I go on a date with him?” Ino asked hotly, starting to grow upset at the odd direction Shikamaru’s questions were going. “He asked me to!”

“And that’s _all_ it takes now? You’ll go out with _any_ guy who asks?” He abruptly shot her such a hard, penetrating look that Ino felt compelled to back up a step. “What... is this some kind of new _dating resolution_ of yours?”

_Good grief_ , thought Ino as she stared in mute amazement. How Shikamaru could figure these things out was beyond her. Ino could feel herself flushing even more deeply, confused as to why she was suddenly feeling so defensive about this. And why wasn’t _he_ acting the way she thought he would?

“As a matter of fact, it is!” Ino finally answered, tossing her head proudly. “For your information, I’ve decided to turn over a new leaf, Shikamaru. When it comes to dating, _I’m giving every guy a fair chance now_ ,” she proclaimed, adding pointed emphasis on her words. Then feeling very pleased with herself, Ino waited keenly for his reaction.

But Shikamaru’s irritated expression flattened into one of mild exasperation. He let out a dismissive grunt. “Right. Probably should have seen _that_ one coming,” he mumbled quietly to himself. “Very egalitarian of you, Ino.”

She could sense her temper rising dangerously to the surface, but her profound shock kept it from boiling over. “Why? What’s _wrong_ with that?” Ino felt a sharp tightening in her chest as she watched Shikamaru shake his head slightly. “Don’t _you_ think it’s a good idea?”

“Oh, sure, it’s a _great_ dating strategy,” he shrugged disinterestedly. “Best of luck on that one.”

Finished with their conversation, Shikamaru twisted away from Ino and hitched a leg over the window sill. He was contemplating heading off somewhere for some desperately needed alone time to clear his thoughts when he felt his forward movement being checked - Ino had reached out and seized hold of his vest. Glancing back at her, he was surprised to see her face had gone beet red.

“ _And what the heck is so wrong about doing that?_ ” she demanded again.

Wondering at his teammate’s agitation, Shikamaru’s eyes moved warily over her. “...Geez, Ino, and what exactly is so _great_ about it?” he finally muttered after a moment’s pause.

Her patience was thoroughly shot. “I asked you first, you lazy _jerk_. So just _spit it out_ already!”

Crossing his arms tiredly, Shikamaru flashed her an annoyed look. “Hmph. Since you asked so _nicely_ , I’ll tell you. In a nutshell, you’ve just gone to the opposite extreme - instead of setting impossibly high standards almost _no one_ can meet, you now have _no_ standards whatsoever.” His irritation suddenly peaked. “That’s _not_ a dating strategy, Ino! Frankly, that’s just being deliberately _blind_.”

Stung, Ino let go of Shikamaru’s jacket. “ _Blind?_ ” she cried. “How the _hell_ does that make me blind?”

“Since when was it smart to close your eyes and grab at anyone who looks your way, acting as if every guy was exactly the same? Hell, Ino, you’re blind ‘cause you _just don’t get it_.”

“Oh, I don’t get it?” repeated his incensed teammate, fully caught up in the throes of irrational anger. She felt wounded to the core and strangely more affected than she had the previous day. “Oh no, Shikamaru, you’re dead wrong about that! I _completely_ get that _you_ think I’m nothing but a silly, shallow, _heartless_ girl who is totally incapable of seeing anything more beyond a guy’s _face_!”

Ino’s outburst brought Shikamaru up short and he stared incredulously back at her. “Hey, wait a minute - I _never_ said you were heartless!”

She flinched, noting that he hadn’t rushed to contradict any other part, though. Feeling her body start to quaver dangerously, Ino sent Shikamaru a small, tight smile. “You know, you’re right - _I’m_ not the heartless one here! And I have news for you, Nara Shikamaru. Even if I’m such a _blind fool_ that I’d date the whole village, it’s still none of your _damn business_ who I go out with!”

“Damn it, don’t be _ridiculous_ , Ino. I didn’t mean -”

“Shut up, Shikamaru! I already _know_ you think I’m totally stupid about everything I do and say, so just _shut up_!”

“What?” he said, truly startled. “I do _not_ -!”

But Ino was no longer listening. With a mighty shove she pushed Shikamaru sideways out the open window, knocking him to the roof ledge below. Though caught completely off guard, he immediately sprang to his feet and turned towards Ino - but she slammed the window down in his face and pulled the drapes. And then, feeling emotionally overwrought by the charged encounter, she burst into tears and stormed out of the room.

\----------

Sakura sat at the desk in her bedroom, several non-medical textbooks propped open nearby and a small tool kit at her side. She labored quietly in the fading afternoon light, her fingers moving skillfully as she concentrated on her work with a surgeon’s patience and precision. She found the exercise very calming, which was exactly what she’d needed after her meeting with Naruto.

In Sakura’s opinion, that was one _good_ thing about being a medical apprentice - the continual study kept her too busy to dwell excessively on anything that might have otherwise been personally upsetting. It had helped with Sasuke, after all; it had given her a goal and a purpose. And now she supposed the discipline would help her calmly process what had happened with Naruto and Ino earlier today. _Not_ that anything had really happened, that is. They’d only made a little date.

Sakura puzzled over this as she pulled out a long piece of wire from the kit and began twisting it. Of course, any reasonable person would have to admit _that_ in itself was strange. Naruto and Ino... out on a date. Together. No, that news was just... really unexpected. And beyond weird. Honestly, what in the world was Ino thinking, saying yes to Naruto like that? 

_Not_ that Sakura was concerned about this, of course. Far from it. Ino was her best friend and Naruto was only her teammate. It was just very perplexing that they had agreed to go through with something like this. They didn’t even _like_ each other all that much! 

Never mind that the date had been _her_ idea in the first place.

Sakura grimaced, accidentally poking a finger on the end of a trimmed wire. Well, she supposed that she _should_ have taken this possibility into consideration, no matter how unlikely it seemed. But it was out of her hands now. Ino was just going to have to suffer through an outing with Naruto, poor girl. He was bound to blow it, after all. Yep, this date definitely had ‘disaster’ written all over it.

And it was really for that reason more than any other that Sakura felt somewhat obligated to keep an eye on things. Yes, she owed it to Ino to make sure that Naruto didn’t get too out of hand tomorrow doing something outrageously obnoxious or perverted...

Besides, what were best friends for?

Putting down her scissors, Sakura lifted up the finished product and gave it one last critical examination: a small boutonniere of bluish flowers was now slowly twisting between her fingers. _A good color to match his eyes, right?_ Pleased with result, she smiled.

_That should do it._


	8. Troublesome Things

That evening Shikamaru lay brooding on his bed staring up at the blank ceiling, deep in the grip of an uncommon annoyance. In truth, shutting himself up in his bedroom was not his first choice: he would have much preferred being outside, of course, and it wasn’t easy finding peace under the same roof with his mother. But tonight he required the secure privacy of a locked door and he was not in the mood for sky watching anyway. No, not at all... what he needed now was space to think, not relax.

Right. As if he _could_ relax.

Frankly, Shikamaru was stunned. Scratch that - to say he was merely ‘stunned’ was an understatement. He could hardly fathom that he'd had _two_ fights in one day. Neither of which involved his mother. Both of which _he’d_ instigated. It was a record.

It was _insane_.

Replaying the day’s events for the umpteenth time, Shikamaru let out a heavy groan. No matter how he examined it, he still could not fully comprehend why he’d reacted like... like such a _jerk_ when Naruto announced his ‘big’ news. But he couldn’t deny that he’d felt something dark and ugly rearing up inside, something that fairly demanded that he immediately cut that cocky twerp back down to size. Even now Shikamaru could still picture Naruto standing there gloating like some smug jackass over landing a date with Ino, as if he were better than -

Scowling, Shikamaru forcefully wrenched his thoughts off that fruitless path. He still could not think about Naruto without wanting to curse him, and he could hardly be expected to think rationally about things until he calmed down. Until then, he had to contend with the fact that his capacity for reason had temporarily gone out the window.

Ah, windows.

Shikamaru ran his hands exasperatedly over his face, wishing mindlessly that there was such a thing as a time travel _jutsu_. Or anything that could erase that bizarre scene in Ino’s bedroom. It was absurdly unreal - of all the incredibly _stupid_ things to do, what the hell had possessed him to charge off to Ino’s like that? Since when did _his_ traitorous brain decide it would take a vacation?

Thinking about the fight, Shikamaru found himself quickly growing even more perturbed. He knew he’d missed something critical back there, though he was damned if he could figure out what that was. He’d never seen Ino so livid, not since during their _genin_ days whenever he’d made the ‘mistake’ of dissing Sasuke in front of her face. No, even that wasn’t quite right. Sure, Shikamaru had seen her angry at him countless times before, but never had it felt so personal. Or had the expression in her eyes seemed so... _stricken_.

And worse, he’d probably made her cry.

Shikamaru shifted uncomfortably on the bed, a growing sense of unease weighing on his mind. He remembered the look on Ino’s face when she’d slammed the window shut and grimaced - he truly hadn’t meant to make her so upset. _Why_ did she fly off the handle like that at the very end? Ino was usually so much tougher about taking his criticism; heck, half the time Shikamaru was certain she wasn’t even listening...

That in turn made Shikamaru feel strangely angry at her all over again. 

_Blast it, Ino, why are you so mad at me for? You’re the one who can’t make up her mind about who you should be dating! If you didn’t want to hear what I had to say about it, why did you even ask me to begin with? Why can’t you just tell me straight out what you’re really thinking instead of making me play these stupid guessing games? And on top of that, why am I the jerk - YOU’RE the one who’s going out with a boy you don’t even like and yet somehow I’M the villain! What the hell is up with that???_

It was so ridiculously troublesome.

Releasing a deep sigh, Shikamaru rubbed his eyes and glanced over at the clock. He’d been lying here for hours already and yet felt no calmer. No, instead he just kept reliving the same irritating scenes, replaying the same annoying conversations, retracing the same pointlessly circuitous thoughts... all of which was making him very, very tired. _Geez, I’m totally drained._

Feeling as irritable as he did, Shikamaru began entertaining the uncharitable thought of how much easier things would have been if Ino had just been assigned to some other team all those years ago. There was a deeply ingrained part of Shikamaru that insisted anything that gave him so much trouble wasn’t worth the effort and was best avoided, and Ino often fit the bill. _Let’s just ignore this and forget it ever happened._

It was a powerfully tempting idea. Shikamaru hated fights; he hated the drama. It would be so easy to just avoid Ino, to go about his business the next day like nothing ever happened. Frankly, he really _didn’t_ care if she never spoke to him again...

But there was another part of him that knew this was a lie.

A mirthless smile edged across Shikamaru’s mouth. As problematic as it was, he had long ago resigned himself to the fact that his connection to Ino was something beyond his control. She was a teammate, yes; one that he had sort of bonded with and sort of hadn’t. Their relationship was hard to define: it wasn’t the same level of closeness as with Choji, but it was neither the relaxed rivalry of Temari or the easygoing companionship of Naruto, Sakura, and the others. After all this time, he still didn’t know exactly how Ino fit into his life beyond their team’s partnership.

But nevertheless, there she was. And there _he_ was, again stuck trying to figure her out for the umpteenth million time.

Shikamaru rubbed his temples, feeling the beginnings of a headache as he ran over their argument one more time. What was it that he’d missed...?

_All right, Ino. All these years I’ve watched you chase after every so-called ‘hot’ guy in this village and then out of the blue you say that’s not important to you anymore... how am I supposed to believe that? People don’t change on a dime, Ino - not without a BIG reason. So what are you really thinking? I just can’t figure out your motives here. And on top of that you turn around and pick Naruto! For crying out loud, he’s no better than I am and you’ve never once looked at me like -_

Shikamaru blinked, surprised at the turn his thoughts had taken - where the hell did _that_ come from? He must be getting really tired; he wasn’t thinking clearly at all... for pity’s sake, he was just pointlessly _wasting time_. And with that, Shikamaru disgustedly gave up the attempt to be reasonable about anything. Succumbing to the force of all his original resentment, his face darkened into a markedly pronounced scowl.

_Damn, this is such an annoying pain. Screw that idiot Naruto and that so-called ‘date’ of his - only he’s stupid enough to believe that Ino’s going out with him because she likes him. And screw you, Ino, you liar - you can say whatever you want, but I know you aren’t being totally honest with me either._

He’d made up his mind. Whatever it was Ino was playing at, Shikamaru was going to figure it out. Even though he _knew_ it was going to be nothing but trouble for him tomorrow, _curse_ it all...

_Feh. This is what I get for charging off half-cocked without thinking things all the way through first._

\----------

Elsewhere in Konoha, an identically petulant scowl was marring Ino’s face as she sat at the dinner table, idly picking at the food on her plate without ingesting anything. This behavior in itself was not extraordinary; Ino’s habitual dieting had rendered her a well-known fussy eater. But her agitation must have been evident. She was dimly aware of her parent’s eyes occasionally drifting over her, but she was too consumed by her own thoughts to pay them any notice. Distracting visions of the scene in her bedroom kept intruding on her mind, ruining both her mood and her already meagre appetite.

Blast it all, this just wasn’t _fair_!

And the day had started out so nicely, too. For the first time in what felt like ages Ino had gotten up without having boys on the brain. No worries about what she should put on, how she should fix her face, who she should try flirting with today - just pleasant, relaxing freedom to enjoy herself and not obsess over her disappointing love life so much. And then, in a remarkable twist of fate, Naruto had appeared to spontaneously invite her out on a date. It had been so cool, in a way, so _reaffirming_...

Why did Shikamaru have to go and ruin it for her?

Try as she might, Ino couldn’t understand it. Had Shikamaru really come all the way to her house just for the satisfaction of telling her off? Good grief, what was his problem anyway? _He_ was the one who had started it all; she’d overheard him accusing her of being shallow, of only judging boys on their looks alone - so didn’t going out with a weirdo like Naruto automatically prove that she’d moved beyond that? And on top of that, where did he get off calling her ‘blind’ yet _again_?

Oh no, Ino wasn’t letting Shikamaru have the last word about this. Even though, she reluctantly admitted, it _was_ true that she wasn’t overly thrilled at the prospect of parading through downtown Konoha with Naruto as her escort. But she was in the process of turning over a new leaf, damn it! What did it matter whom she did it with, as long as it wasn’t with some so-called ‘hot’ guy? Wasn’t that the whole stupid point? Heck, when you looked at it like that, _she_ was the one who was practically doing Naruto a favor...!

_Blind._

Startled, Ino briefly left off attacking her plate and glanced over her shoulder. Strange, for a moment she could have sworn she’d distinctly heard a familiar, sarcastic voice muttering in her ear - but that was ridiculous. Besides, Shikamaru wouldn’t have dared to come back here! He wasn’t crazy enough to get into an argument _twice_ in one day... the lazy jerk.

Snapping up her chopsticks, Ino renewed the assault. But come to think of it... how did Naruto fit into this anyway? Why did he ask her out? He really must have given up on chasing Sakura, unbelievable as that was. Well at least Ino wouldn’t have to worry about angering her best friend by going out with him, even if it was only casually... wasn’t it? She recalled his bumbling invitation from earlier that day - had Naruto been sincere when he said that he _admired_ her? It was all so unexpected, in retrospect... At the time Ino had taken it for granted that Naruto would naturally want to go out with her - what boy wouldn’t? 

Hmph. At least that was what the old Ino would have said...

Ino’s eyes flashed as everything on her plate suddenly turned a reddish hue. Yes, that’s what she supposedly still was: old, dumb, _blind_ Ino, the silliest girl in all of Konoha who wasn’t _smart_ enough to judge a boy if her life depended on it - at least according to her smug, sneering, know-it-all teammate.

_Everything was going fine today until you came along and messed it up, you stupid, lazy, jerky... BOY!!!_

Thoroughly irritated, Ino thrust savagely into a tomato, causing its red juices to spurt out across the table and strike Inoichi in his face. Flushing with embarrassment, Ino stammered out an apology and put the chopsticks down as her mother calmly passed her father a napkin. Then Mrs. Yamanaka delicately cleared her throat.

“Did something happen today, Ino dear?”

“Um, yeah...” Ino sighed, disappointment driving away her feelings of anger. If nothing else, she had really been looking forward to sharing this with her mother, but even that small bit of fun was gone. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

Ino paused, throwing a hesitant glance at her disgruntled father, who was wiping himself off with great dignity. It had been bad timing with the tomato, but then again, she had never expected him to react well to this. Best just to get it over with quickly.

“Er, today... a boy asked me out on a date.”

_“What?!?”_

“Oh, Ino! How won-!”

“- but I’m having second thoughts about whether I should go out with him or not,” Ino hastily amended. Then she blinked in surprise at her admission. _Second thoughts? Why did I just say that?_

Sensing an opening, Inoichi pounced. “Oh, really? Well you can always cancel, Ino. He’ll just have to get over it.”

“Daddy!” protested Ino, rapidly recovering herself. “I didn’t say that I wouldn’t go out with him! I’m just... _thinking_ about it some more.”

Mrs. Yamanaka eyed her husband exasperatedly before turning to address her daughter. “What’s wrong, honey? Why don’t you want to go?” She frowned worriedly. “Isn’t he a nice boy?”

“Is he _older_?” asked Inoichi suspiciously.

Ino turned pink and shifted uncomfortably in her chair, realizing that she’d failed to take this particular interrogation into consideration. But then, was there ever really a way of tactfully explaining to your neurotic father that the boy who’d asked you out was rather infamously known throughout the village?

“Um, actually, he graduated with me from the academy.” Ino forced a laugh, trying to keep the mood light before dropping the hammer. “Er, I think it’s safe to say you both already know him... _really_ well...” 

“Ah, is that so?” said Inoichi interestedly, the doubtful expression on his face swiftly replaced by a teasing look. “Now... this boy wouldn’t happen to be a _teammate_ , would he?”

It was an old joke of Inoichi’s, one that he would occasionally throw out whenever he felt like razzing his daughter, given that Ino would always roll her eyes and huffily ignore him. But as he began to laugh, Ino reacted by turning to stare at her father, utterly dumbfounded. An image of Shikamaru suddenly sprang to mind and a strange feeling overcame her. Then she slammed her hands against the table and stood up angrily.

“NO! It isn’t SHIKAMARU! That lazy, whining, annoying _slacker_ \- WHY would you even think I’d _ever_ go out with that JERK?!?”

Her parents stared. Inoichi stopped laughing, looking confused. “But I didn’t even say -”

Ino wasn’t listening, too wrapped up in her indignation. “The boy _I’m_ going out with is ten times - no, make that ONE HUNDRED times better than _stupid Shikamaru_!”

“...What’s wrong with Shikamaru? I thought you two got along okay.” Inoichi frowned sharply at his daughter. “Did something happen between you two?”

“ _Nothing is happening between us_ ,” hissed Ino, her eyes flashing wildly. “And for your information, Shikamaru is simply -”

“Never mind that,” interrupted Mrs. Yamanaka coolly, deciding to head off her daughter before she got too overwrought and shouted herself hoarse. “I’m sure that the boy who asked you out is a _fine young man_ (she looked pointedly at her husband) as we’ll see for ourselves when we meet him tomorrow... (she looked questioningly at Ino) ...or will we?”

With a deep sigh Ino sank back into her chair, feeling the anger seeping out of her as quickly as it came. Yes, forget that idiot Shikamaru for now - it was the situation with Naruto that she was supposed to be worried about.

“The truth is that I’m not really attracted to him,” Ino confessed. “But... I said yes to him anyway. And now I’m wondering if that wasn’t a mistake.”

“Why is that?” asked Mrs. Yamanaka with concern. “Do you feel uncomfortable around him?”

“What? Oh, no - it’s not like _that_. He’s okay, I guess.” Ino hesitated, her conscience pricking uncomfortably. “I just wonder if... if, you know, if you think it would be... shallow of me to go on a date with him anyway?”

Inoichi appeared to be on the verge of saying something to that when he suddenly winced, and Ino thought she spotted her mother shooting him a look that said _‘let me handle this.’_ He settled back in his seat with a disgruntled air.

“Hmm... well, do you know for sure if he has any feelings for you?” said Mrs. Yamanaka as she took a leisurely sip of tea. 

“I don’t think so. But I don’t really know.”

“And as you said, you don’t really know each other that well. But that’s all right.” She put down her cup and looked warmly at her daughter. “That’s what a first date is for - a chance to get to know someone better. Afterwards you may decide to just be friends, or you may end up something more... but you have to start somewhere.”

“And... you _don’t_ think it’s shallow? To date someone you’re unsure of?” asked Ino anxiously.

“No. It’s only ‘shallow’ if you keep going out with him after the first few times simply for the sake of having someone to date, not because you’re really interested. You have to give these things a chance, Ino.” Mrs. Yamanaka smiled gently. “Besides, I know you’re not a mercenary, dear - you would never toy around with someone else’s feelings like that.”

“No... no I _wouldn’t_ ,” Ino agreed thoughtfully, a sense of relief washing over her. She recalled what Naruto had said to her earlier in the shop - this ‘date’ was simply a chance to get to know each other better... just for fun... just as friends.

She supposed she could handle that.

“Another thing, Ino. It doesn’t matter who the boy is - just be yourself. Be smart, be funny, be classy, be kind... in short, be the lady that I know you can be.”

Feeling greatly encouraged, Ino broke into a smile. Determination welled up inside her as she recalled her silent vow and the painful scene that had prompted it. Yes, even if worse came to worse and tomorrow resulted in nothing but one big social disaster, Ino was giving Naruto a fair chance. After all, he _had_ asked her out.

And what did Shikamaru know about it, anyway?

Ino was distracted from these thoughts by the sound of Inoichi loudly clearing his throat.

“But don’t forget, Princess - you don’t have to go if you don’t want to!”

_“Daddy!”_

“You’re not helping, dear.”

\----------

It was getting very dark when Naruto finally made it back to his apartment, but the lateness was worth it. He was relieved he’d gone to see Iruka. If nothing else, the older chuunin’s advice had calmed him down considerably and even given him some good ideas on what to do for his date. Now he just needed to make a few calls tonight and everything would be good for tomorrow...

“ _Whoa!_ Hey, what the -?”

Naruto spotted the box almost a second too late and, attempting not to flatten it, wound up falling into an undignified heap outside his door. Picking himself up with disgust, he grabbed the package and examined it curiously. Then his eyes widened in delighted surprise as he read the attached card:

_Naruto - For Your Date! Love, Sakura_


	9. Off On A Great Date

Naruto stood before the mirror in his bathroom, examining his reflection one last time as he ran through a quick mental checklist: Showered and dressed. Teeth, brushed. Hair, combed. Underwear, clean. Deodorant... (he sniffed himself experimentally)... yep, still working.

He leaned back and grinned broadly.

_All right - check it out! Looking good, Uzumaki!_

Exiting the bathroom with a bounce in his step, Naruto headed toward the kitchenette feeling remarkably relaxed and confident. Although he had woken up that morning with butterflies in his stomach, he had given himself a quick pep talk and determinedly pushed his fears aside. Then he’d spent the rest of the day psyching himself up by repeating various words of wisdom from Iruka. Such as this one:

_First Rule of Combat Dating_

_Dates are like battles. Mentally prepare yourself beforehand, and when the moment to engage arrives - charge!_

It had paid off, as by now Naruto was raring to go. Plus, it didn’t hurt that he also had been given a secret weapon.

Glancing down at the breast pocket of his jacket, Naruto’s grin widened. Tucked inside was a sprig of blue flowers wrapped in a yellow ribbon, peaking cheerfully out at him - Sakura’s gift. He’d placed them there as per the directions of her note: _Pin this on yourself tomorrow; it’ll make you look more dressy._ Maybe it felt a little dandyish, but hey, Sakura knew a heck of a lot more about stuff like this than he did. And it was for a date, after all.

Still, silly or not, Naruto couldn’t help feeling happier every time he looked down. Blue and gold. His favorite colors... right after pink and green, that is. 

The flowers also had another unexpected benefit. Whatever the reason behind this whole mysterious date business, Naruto found he no longer cared. Wearing her gift made him feel like he had a piece of Sakura’s spirit as personal armor, secretly watching over him. Everything would be just fine today, no matter what went down with Ino.

And only Heaven really knew what was going to happen with Ino.

Naruto tried not to dwell on yesterday’s bizarre events too much, as thinking about anything perplexing for very long usually just made him feel more confused. And in this case more agitated, as it also called up the disdainful face of a certain snide slacker. But as irritating as their fight had been, Naruto found he could shrug off Shikamaru’s barbs fairly easily today; he’d already had years of experience doing that with the entire village. It hadn’t been so simple to shake off his confusion about Ino, however.

Why _had_ Ino said yes? Naruto had no idea. He was positive that she had never once in her life looked at him with any hint of admiration, much less attraction. But nevertheless she’d said ‘yes’ to him - and almost immediately! Did that mean something? Regardless, Naruto likewise could not recall ever once feeling any kind of attraction towards Ino. As he’d earlier told Sakura, he found her a little too scary for his tastes. Certainly _not_ the type of girl he was interested in chasing after...

It didn’t add up. And as weird as it was, a tiny part of Naruto couldn’t help wondering if Sakura really _hadn’t_ been trying to set him up with her best friend all along... except that she also had seemed just as surprised as he was afterwards...

Well, whatever. It really didn’t matter anymore anyway.

Naruto paused to retrieve a box from the refrigerator. Finally certain that he was ready, he walked out of his apartment and locked the door. Then pausing at the edge of the balcony, he turned in the direction of Mount Hokage and pointed his finger dramatically towards the stone faces. Throwing his head back, Naruto drew in a deep breath and hollered for all of Konoha to hear:

“This is going to be a GREAT date! _Believe it!_ ”

\----------

Lurking in an alleyway down on the street below, Sakura was rubbing the right side of her head painfully. 

_Aargh, sometimes he’s SO annoying. But at least I know that it’s working now._

Sakura popped a tiny bud out of her ear and carefully examined it. Pulling a small radio out of her pouch, she made a quick adjustment before slipping the bud back inside. Then she broke into a smirk, feeling immensely proud of her handiwork. _Not bad for a rush job, if I do say so myself._

The idea of using a listening device had struck Sakura almost as soon as she had entered her bedroom yesterday. She’d caught sight of the old picture of Team 7 when it had hit like a bolt from the blue, and she immediately set to work with near feverish diligence. And though she had felt a twinge of guilt at the undertaking, Sakura had belayed those doubts by reassuring herself that everything was for the sake of her best friend Ino, who after all was the hapless (and totally accidental!) victim in this mess. No, the truly unconscionable thing would be for her to stay _out_ of it now...

Besides the work time, it had also taken some planning. Sakura considered it a personal stroke of genius to decide on disguising the bug as a boutonniere - there would be no awkwardness in coaxing Naruto to put it on. Even so, she had her doubts about whether or not he would really wear it, but Sakura had forgotten to take into account that Naruto could be surprisingly sentimental about some things. Lucky, too, that he was so incredibly _gullible_... for once.

Realizing that Naruto was going to get too far out of range if she didn’t start moving, Sakura hurriedly exited the alley. She fumbled with the pouch as she tried to hastily slip the radio back inside, not paying attention to where she was going -

_Smack._

“Oy! Watch where you’re going!”

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see... Shikamaru?”

“Sakura?”

The two teenaged _chuunin_ stared at each other, both too surprised to say anything, and after a moment Sakura wondered if it was only her imagination or if Shikamaru’s normally impassive face didn’t seem strangely sheepish. But then she was sure she was wearing an equally chagrined expression.

“What are _you_ doing here?” Sakura blurted out unthinkingly, thrusting her hand behind her back.

“Walking on the sidewalk - like a normal person,” muttered Shikamaru, his face settling back into its standard bored look. “And minding my own business,” he added, his voice carrying a faint edge.

Sakura frowned, peeved by Shikamaru’s dry observation. “Hmph. Be that as it may, it’s kind of out of your way though, isn’t it? There aren’t any government buildings in this part of town, and no one lives around here except...”

Shikamaru shrugged and turned away, clearly annoyed. Putting two and two together, Sakura broke into a smug grin.

“Oh relax, Shikamaru. I won’t ask you why you’re tailing Naruto... not after that _fight_ you had with him yesterday.”

Shikamaru threw her a disgruntled look. But then his shoulders drooped and he groaned, his face becoming grudgingly resigned.

“Fine, Sakura,” sighed Shikamaru as he began to amble off down the street. “And I won’t ask why you happen to be hiding in an alley facing Naruto’s apartment... or to explain that radio you’re hiding behind your back.” He paused to shoot a knowing smirk back over his shoulder. “And you’d better hurry or you’re going to lose sight of him, too.”

Sakura jumped, blushing in spite of herself. With an angry glare at Shikamaru’s retreating back, she shoved the radio into the pouch and ran after him.

\----------

Ino was in her usual position before the vanity, putting the finishing touches on her appearance when she heard the front door bell ring. Startled, she almost dropped the mascara wand as she glanced over at the clock. _Naruto’s here. And he’s even on time - amazing_.

Standing up to smooth out her dress, Ino gave herself a final appraising look in the mirror. Striking a pose for old time’s sake, she couldn’t resist grinning her approval at the reflection. Even though the outfit wasn’t nearly as revealing as what she was accustomed to wearing (Ino had decided to make it very clear to Naruto that she wasn’t trying to give him the wrong idea), the cut still made her feel surprisingly romantic and sophisticated. And why shouldn’t she look her absolute best? Though Naruto probably wouldn’t notice anyway...

Ino took a deep breath. Picking up her purse, she exited her bedroom and headed downstairs. _Ready or not, Konoha, here we come._

As she walked towards the door, Ino couldn’t help wondering at her jittery state. It wasn’t due to a sudden lack of confidence; she wasn’t afraid or worried about impressing Naruto after all. But she had nevertheless been unusually subdued all day, and troubling feelings would strike her at odd moments. Still, Ino resolutely pushed these aside as quickly as they came, remembering her mother’s advice. Nothing was going to ruin this for her. In the end she decided that a little nervousness was only natural - this _was_ her very first date.

Reaching the entryway, Ino paused one last time and checked to see that her hair bun was still in place. Then fixing a welcoming smile on her face, she calmly pulled the door open... and blinked.

Naruto was standing there, exuding the mysteriously appealing air of a boy who’d been freshly scrubbed and groomed. Ino could see that he’d dressed with more care than usual, yet there still seemed to be something different. Perhaps it was the effect of the sunlight beating down on his head: his hair shone more golden, making a striking contrast with his blue eyes. Moreover the smile on his face wasn’t the usual cocky grin but a surprisingly tranquil one. It was as if overnight Naruto had learned to project an unassuming self-confidence beyond his years. He looked the same as always yet more... _mature_... somehow. 

_He cleans up well when he wants to, I guess._

Ino felt her face suddenly going warm. _Huh?_

Confused by her reaction, Ino dropped her gaze from Naruto’s face. She was immediately drawn to his jacket’s breast pocket, raising her brows on spotting the boutonniere. _Bachelor buttons? I guess that’s appropriate._ Ino smirked, wondering if Naruto understood the significance. _Probably not._

Still, something about the boutonniere appeared unusual. Though serviceable, it was inexpertly made - obviously the work of some other competitor. Ino automatically leaned in closer to inspect it, wondering if she could figure out which floral shop it had come from - but then Naruto was speaking.

“Hey, Ino! Wow, you look really nice.” Grinning easily as Ino looked up in shock at the compliment, Naruto held out a box to her. “I hope you don’t mind, but I brought you a gift.”

Wordlessly, Ino took the box and opened the lid. Her eyes widened in surprise as she lifted out a matching corsage. “This is for me?”

“Yeah - just a little something I, er, picked up last night,” hedged Naruto, saying a silent ‘ _thank you_ ’ to Sakura and feeling his confidence rise a bit further at the expression on Ino’s face. _Whoa, she actually looks happy... huh. Well, off to a good start!_

Ino meanwhile slipped on the corsage and lifted her wrist up, unaware of the soft smile that briefly crossed her lips. Clumsily made or not, she found it unexpectedly sweet. _Wow - I can’t believe he actually thought to do something like this!_

Just then the sound of movement behind Ino alerted her to the impending arrival of her family, and she stood aside to usher Naruto forward. “Come on in. Let me introduce you to my parents.”

Turning away, Ino missed seeing Naruto’s smile slipping a little. He scratched his head nervously, suddenly looking much less the assured young man and more like his regular self. “Yeah, your parents...”

\----------

Across the street from Ino’s house, Sakura crouched behind a large ornamental tree, using the trunk to conceal herself. Shikamaru had opted to stand a few feet behind her, leaning lazily back against the heavily shaded wall. Their position gave them an excellent prospect of the Yamanaka entryway, where they had silently watched Naruto’s arrival and Ino’s subsequent reception. 

They were not enjoying the view.

Shikamaru had already lost track of the times he’d cursed himself that morning for deciding to come spy on Ino. He’d been regretting it from the second he woke up to the minute he walked out the door. But he reluctantly acknowledged that he would regret _not_ knowing what was happening even more... so here he was. Adding to Shikamaru’s troubled thoughts was being accidentally caught by Sakura: that was irritating and unexpected, not to mention weird - what was _her_ stake in this? He hadn’t thought she would want to spy on either Naruto or Ino in these circumstances. In any case, her presence confirmed that there was more to this puzzle than he’d originally suspected.

But honestly, figuring out Sakura’s motives was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment. Instead Shikamaru’s attention was wholly absorbed on Ino. When she’d opened the door, he found himself staring in spite of himself: that had to be the most clothing he’d seen Ino wear in years. And yet she looked really good. Then Shikamaru shook his head slightly - that was besides the point. Frowning, he tried focusing solely on her face, attempting to read its expression. From what he could tell, she seemed to be... _happy?_

_Hey - did Naruto just give her a gift?_ Shikamaru narrowed his eyes as he watched Ino admiring her wrist. _What is he trying to prove?_

Shikamaru straightened up, trying to get a better view of Ino. It was aggravating, watching her mouth move but being unable to discern her words. Ironic, too, given all the times in the past Shikamaru _hadn’t_ wanted to listen to her but had no choice. But this was different. It was disturbing not to know what exactly was being said, especially when coupled with that annoyingly pleased smile that had briefly flitted across her face...

He sighed heavily. There was really nothing else for it.

“Hey, Sakura,” said Shikamaru, glancing over at his unwanted companion. “Give me the spare ear bud you’re carrying. I want to listen in.”

Sakura, who had thus far been busy intently watching the back of Naruto’s head, whipped around to stare at him. “Wha... what do you mean?”

“Spare - as in the _extra_ one you undoubtedly brought along for back up.”

Scowling, Sakura hesitated, but then reached into her pouch and dug around. After a few seconds she pulled out the bud and passed it over to him grudgingly. “How did you know?”

“It was an educated guess,” shrugged Shikamaru as he slid in the device. “Anal people like to be well-prepared.”

Sakura narrowed her eyes, feeling a nerve start to throb angrily in her forehead. But she grit her teeth and turned away: Ino was speaking again...

\----------

Naruto set foot into the Yamanaka household with a feeling of trepidation. He couldn’t help recalling one of Iruka’s dire warnings in this type of situation:

_Second Rule of Combat Dating_

_Sometimes you must enter enemy territory in pursuit of your target. Tread cautiously._

Ino was looking expectantly down the hallway and Naruto went to stand next to her reluctantly, resisting the urge to use her as a shield. But he couldn’t stop himself from gulping as two people entered the room.

Naruto immediately saw where Ino had inherited her good looks. Both adults were in some form older versions of their daughter, from her father’s striking eyes and hair to her mother’s shapely physique and saunter. Mrs. Yamanaka, he also noted, appeared genuinely friendly, judging from the congenial expression on her face. Mr. Yamanaka’s grin seemed a little forced, though - but hey, at least it was a _smile_. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment he almost felt encouraged by the warm reception...

And then they both spotted him, the smiles simultaneously freezing on their faces. Naruto felt his heart sink.

“Mom, Dad,” said Ino cheerfully, failing to see the changed atmosphere. “This is my date - Uzumaki Naruto.”

The requisite moment for exchanging pleasantries passed as nothing was said, leaving Ino to look askance at her parents. _Huh?_

“Er...” said Naruto, laughing nervously to cover the uncomfortable pause. He looked at Mrs. Yamanaka. “Hi there! N-nice to meet you.”

“ _Naruto_ ,” she whispered, turning a pale, ashen color.

Breaking out into a nervous sweat, Naruto attempted to put on his best winning smile. He turned towards Mr. Yamanaka next. “Uh, I’m t-taking your daughter out. I hope you don’t mind... much.”

“I see,” said Inoichi brusquely, his mouth pressing into a tight line.

An uneasy silence settled over the party.

Ino was stunned. Her bewildered eyes flew between her parents’ faces, wondering if this wasn’t some bad joke. Never before had she seen her gracious mother or her outgoing father at a complete loss for welcoming conversation. Or basic civility. It was unreal.

Chagrined, Ino glanced over at Naruto. She was about to make a wry comment to excuse the embarrassing awkwardness but was brought up short by the expression on his face: Naruto was gazing dejectedly down at the floor, looking as if he’d like nothing better than for it to open up and swallow him whole. A stab of guilt unexpectedly shot through her.

Ino had always figured that her parents were not likely to be thrilled about meeting Naruto, but she had honestly not expected this reaction. She had grown so used to Naruto over the years that she had actually forgotten how much the older generation didn’t care for him. But she now realized this had been a serious mistake. Their dislike was so deep-seated that they didn’t even need to say anything. It was clear from the disdain on both their faces: is _this_ the boy you decided to go out with?

Intense humiliation welled up inside Ino. It was further coupled with resentful anger at her parents. Their naked disapproval felt like a resounding slap at her poor taste in boys - or at least, the only ones she could actually _attract_. And at that moment Ino found she no longer cared if she learned Naruto's motives for asking her out anymore. He’d dressed up. He’d been nice. For crying out loud, he’d even brought her a _gift_.

_No, no, NO - you’re NOT going to ruin this for me too!_

Spinning around, Ino seized Naruto by the arm, causing everyone to gape uncertainly at her. Hitching a smile on her face, she calmly addressed her parents.

“Mother, Father - you always told me it was rude to keep someone waiting. So I’m leaving with Naruto now.” She turned towards the door, pulling a startled Naruto along in her wake. “I’ll be back early tonight.”

“Just a minute, Ino -” said Inoichi sharply. He took a step forward but was brought up short when Ino wheeled back around. Her face had gone red.

“You don’t need to worry,” she said softly, her eyes shining suspiciously bright. “I promise to act like a lady - no matter _who_ my date is!”

Then Ino yanked Naruto out the door, leaving her shocked parents to stare after her.


	10. Key To Her Stomach

Ino stormed down the street, her hand clamped firmly around Naruto’s arm as she drug him along in her wake. Angry thoughts swirled around in her mind, making her heedless of where she was heading. Her eyes were still burning.

_I can’t believe it! I can’t believe it - how could they DO that to me?_

“Ino...!”

She came to an abrupt halt as the street intersected another, realizing that she had no idea where she was going. Or rather, where her _date_ was taking her. Suddenly registering the insistent tugging on her hand, Ino swung around to face Naruto.

“Er, are you okay?”

Ino was taken aback. Naruto was watching her closely, his eyes filled with a mix of alarm and concern... and also a lingering hint of sadness. She flinched, grasping that in her anger she hadn’t been thinking about his feelings so much as her own. She shot a guilty glance at him and dropped his arm.

“Naruto... I’m so sorry about that. Mom and Dad aren’t really...” Ino broke off, her brows furrowing. “I mean, they’re honestly _not_...” She paused and tried again. “I just didn’t think you’d be...”

Ino trailed off, her face flushing as she wrestled with her conflicted feelings about her parents. Naruto found himself staring at her perturbed expression with growing surprise. An odd thought popped into his head: could Yamanaka Ino truly be feeling _sorry_ for him?

Strangely, it was making him feel uncomfortable.

“Aw, it’s okay Ino!” said Naruto cheerfully. He hastily forced on a silly grin and waved his hand in a breezy manner. “I’m used to that. Really!”

As Naruto began to laugh reassuringly, Ino mutely gaped back at him. _Unbelievable - after what just happened, he’s actually trying to cheer ME up. Isn’t he upset at all?_ She couldn’t help wondering if it was an act or if Naruto was simply that clueless... or maybe even both. Nevertheless, a small smile edged across her face and she felt her anger vanishing.

“All right, Naruto,” said Ino, calm once more. She gestured down the street. “Well, here we are out together... what would you like to do first?”

“Come on - let’s go get something to eat,” answered Naruto readily. He began to walk, his eyes glowing with excitement. “I know just the place, too.”

Ino sighed in spite of herself. _Ichiraku Ramen, here we come._

\----------

_Ichiraku Ramen, there they go_ , thought Sakura. She shook her head. _I swear, he’s so predictable._

She was walking next to Shikamaru down the street behind Naruto and Ino, at a far enough distance that they could keep their targets comfortably in sight yet still duck into an alley if need be. But so far both Naruto and Ino seemed wholly unaware that they were being tailed: they were simply too focused on their date. _Hmph. Really sloppy for so-called shinobi_ , mussed Sakura with irritation.

Looking over at Shikamaru, Sakura couldn’t help pouting. He had said very little to her so far, and Sakura was starting to feel that it was the same as walking with a ghost. True, they were both more interested in listening to what was transpiring between Naruto and Ino, but those two had presently fallen quiet, and Shikamaru’s silence was starting to grate on her nerves. Didn’t this boy know a thing about small talk?

She sighed. _Honestly, we girls have to do everything..._

“I can’t believe Naruto is taking Ino to the Ichiraku Ramen Cart,” said Sakura, raising her hands in exaggerated disbelief. “Why couldn’t he pick some place else? I mean, it’s just so _cheap_.”

Shikamaru shrugged. “So what if it’s cheap? Naruto has to pay for it.” He cast a sidelong glance at Sakura, frowning slightly. “It’s not like he’s rolling in money, you know.”

“That’s not the issue,” asserted Sakura as her brow began twitching. “It matters because refusing to spend money sends out a bad message - like telling your date she’s not worth anything!”

“But in this case that’s only incidental. It’s a simple ramen cart, not a four-star restaurant. And the food happens to be good,” Shikamaru added, silently conceding an old point to Choji. 

“Regardless if the food is good, there are times when you need to pay attention to things like mood and atmosphere.” Sakura stuck out her finger emphatically. “Especially if you’re on a date. You need to make a good impression!” 

“Che, that’s pointless. Who cares what the place looks like? That’s got nothing to do with quality.” Shikamaru turned to eye her dubiously. “You could spend a lot to make a big impression and still wind up with a crappy meal.”

“But it’s just plain _boring_ to stick with the same place time after time.”

“At least you’ll know you won’t be getting something that you hate - or that’ll make you sick.”

“I’m just saying that there is no reason a guy can’t find a restaurant that has both great atmosphere and good food!” fumed Sakura.

“And costs a lot,” muttered Shikamaru.

“Geez, you’re such an _unromantic cheapskate_ , Shikamaru,” said Sakura testily, her eyes flashing in anger. “I feel sorry for the girl that dates you!”

_How the hell did it come around to this?_ wondered Shikamaru grumpily, resisting the urge to remind her that he wasn’t the alleged ‘cheapskate’ who had picked out Ichiraku in the first place. But just then they rounded a corner and he came to an abrupt halt.

“What are you stopping for?” snapped Sakura as she continued walking past him.

“In case you haven’t noticed, we’re not heading towards the Ichiraku Ramen Cart anymore.” Shikamaru cocked a brow incredulously as he examined the buildings around them. _Quite the opposite, actually..._

\----------

Ino could hardly believe her eyes. Certain that there had been a mistake, she looked over at Naruto questioningly. “Um, are you sure this is _really_ the right place?”

“Oh yeah,” answered Naruto in his new peculiarly relaxed manner. He gave Ino a reassuring smile and then squinted up at the sign over the entrance. The print was strange; it appeared to be some kind of foreign name... well, whatever. This was just another facet of his grand dating scheme, courtesy of Iruka’s advice.

_Third Rule of Combat Dating_

_Forewarned, forearmed; to be prepared is half the victory. Get to know your target well._

And Naruto had, more or less. At least as much as could be reasonably gathered in the course of a late-night phone call to a friend. It was based on his recommendation that Naruto had learned about this place. It was also thanks to his generosity (and influence) that Naruto had scored a special house coupon, which he could now see looked to be a very lucky thing. No way could he have afforded to bring Ino here on his own!

“I can’t believe it,” murmured Ino as she gazed in awe up at the name on the sign. “ _The Golden Grove_ \- the best exotic restaurant in all of Konoha. Foreign dishes are their specialty.”

“Oh, is that what it says?” remarked Naruto as he gave up trying to decipher the letters. _Guess that means no ramen... too bad. Oh well, that’s not why we came here anyway._ With a friendly nudge he steered Ino towards the entrance. “Come on, let’s go inside.”

Tearing her eyes off the sign, Ino quickly returned to her senses. “Wait a second!” she cried, certain that Naruto had no clue about what he was doing. “We can’t just waltz in there! They’ll never let us past the door without -”

“Oh, it’s okay. We have reservations for outside on the balcony.”

Ino goggled at him. “ _R-reservations_?”

\----------

In keeping with its theme, _The Golden Grove_ was surrounded on all sides by a thick grove of trees. Mostly this was meant for decor, to provide the clientele with a sense of serenity while they dined. And naturally it offered some privacy as well. 

It also made for an excellent hiding place.

Crouched up on a wide branch, two pairs of eyes stealthily watched a pair of blond heads being seated almost directly below them. Neither paid any attention to the other, again being too intent on their particular target of choice, yet both were wearing identical expressions of disbelief and irritation. In the name of the Fourth, what was _this_ about?

_Holy crap_ , thought Shikamaru as he took in the surrounding structure and facilities, mentally estimating the cost. He then skimmed over the wait staff and their dishes, imagining what the entree prices must be. _I could never afford this - so how the hell is Naruto paying for it?_ His lips curled sulkily as he glared down. _And why is he trying so damn hard to impress her?_

The green in Sakura’s eyes seemed to take on a disturbing glow of their own. She couldn’t help feeling a stab of envy as she watched the dining couples quietly enjoying the beautiful restaurant. But then how couldn’t they? It had everything: the music, the setting, the decor, the... _freaking romantic ambiance_. Since when did Naruto know a thing about that? _Why the heck is he taking Ino to a place like this?_ She aimed a chilling gaze at her teammate’s oblivious head. _Ramen just not good enough for her?_

\----------

Naruto felt a shiver run down his spine, almost as if someone was looking at him. He twisted around in his seat but no one was there, and then the feeling was gone. _Weird_. Turning back, he caught sight of Ino’s face; she was almost sighing in delight at their surroundings. _Whoa, she looks so happy. Guess I’m really gonna have to thank him later..._

“Would you like to place your order now?” asked their waitress. Naruto looked around at Ino. She saw that he had gone from assured to awkward again.

“Er... would it be okay if I ordered for you? Just for this time?”

Ino blinked at this unexpected offer. _Has he been here before? No way... but then how does he know what to get?_ Confused but curious, she nodded. “Um, all right. But I’m on a diet!” she added quickly.

“Huh?” said Naruto, sending her a funny look. Then he broke into a smile, his calm demeanor returning. “Oh, it’ll be okay - it’s not fattening at all. In fact, this was a special recommendation for you.”

Ino could only gape. _A special recommendation... for me?_

\----------

_What does he mean by that?_ thought Shikamaru, his grip unconsciously tightening around the branch he crouched on. Watching as Naruto silently pointed to something on the menu, Shikamaru’s mind began mulling over the suspicion he’d formed as soon as he saw their destination. Shikamaru already knew all about this place; heck, he could hardly avoid hearing about it - but how did that apply to Naruto?

Comprehension dawned, causing Shikamaru’s eyes to widen with surprise, then narrow with vexation. Yes, it was all too clear now.

_You really did your homework this time, huh Naruto?_

\----------

“Hey, Ino... can I ask you a question?”

They were sitting quietly together after the waitress had left with their ‘mystery’ order (as Ino dubbed it), and she was fishing around for something to talk about. But then she’d forgotten that Naruto was as much of a conversationalist as she was, if not more so. “Sure, what is it?”

“Why are you on a diet?”

Ino frowned, looking at Naruto as if the answer were the most obvious thing in the world. “Because I need to keep trim, of course! A girl always wants to look her prettiest for the boy she likes.”

“Oh,” said Naruto. He suddenly squinted his eyes at her, the fox whiskers accentuating his puzzled expression. “So then who are you trying to look good for?”

Ino automatically opened her mouth, but said nothing as a bewildered look crossed her face. Come to think of it, there was no longer anyone she had in mind. She blushed.

“Um, actually nobody right now...” She glanced down at the table, the old melancholy feeling of the past month creeping back over her. “But if I don’t watch my weight, I’ll get fat and ugly. And then no guy will want to go out with me.” Her lip curled bitterly. _Although they’re not exactly beating a path to my door right now._

“But you’re not fat or ugly,” asserted Naruto, sounding more confused. “And not all fat people are ugly.”

“Ha!” snorted Ino derisively, feeling resentful all of a sudden. “Everyone knows fat girls are ugly.”

“No - it’s mean girls that are ugly,” said Naruto quietly, a distant look in his eyes. Ino began to shift uncomfortably, brought up short by her own words: it was the first time she’d ever felt guilty or foolish about saying that. But still...

“Come on - boys don’t like fat girls,” insisted Ino. “Everybody knows that.”

Naruto crossed his arms, thinking about all the things he’d inadvertently learned during his travels with Jiraiya. “Mmm... actually it depends on the boy, because some of them _do_.” 

Ino’s brow furrowed skeptically as she considered that. But then she recalled Choji’s comments of a few days before:

_She’s not really my type. I like girls who are… er… full-figured, and she’s way too skinny. Isn’t that right, Shikamaru?_

She flinched as an image of her sullen teammate suddenly sprang to mind. Yes, Ino knew only too well what Shikamaru would say...

“Anyway, you don’t need to lose any weight,” continued Naruto in a matter-of-fact manner, unmindful of his date’s inattention. “Besides, if you lost any more, you wouldn’t be pretty at all.”

Ino snapped her head up, riveting her eyes on Naruto’s. “Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“Well, you’d end up looking like...” Naruto paused and scratched his head, at a loss for words. “Gee, I dunno. Like one of those carrot stick girls.”

“ _Carrot stick girls_?”

“Yeah, you know. Those super skinny girls you always see around who seem to eat nothing but carrot sticks.”

Noticing the mystified expression on Ino’s face, Naruto turned around to look at the other diners. Sure enough, he soon spotted a likely target. Gesturing to Ino, he pointed at a well-dressed couple sitting a few tables away.

Ino swiveled in her chair to get a better look. As Naruto had said, the woman in question was rather thin, and she was fussing with a salad plate that seemed to consist largely of carrot sticks. However, that wasn’t the first thing that caught Ino’s attention.

“But she’s really pretty!” whispered Ino, staring at the woman’s clothing and wondering how much they had cost. _So stylish_ , she thought with a pang of envy.

Naruto eyed Ino dubiously. “Pretty? No, she’s not. She looks like a scarecrow. Have you seen her neck? Just look at her arms - she’s all skin and bones!”

“You’re exaggerating, Naruto,” murmured Ino, though privately she did see his point about the lady’s bony physique. “Dressed like that she looks elegant and sophisticated.”

“Well, I don’t know anything about clothes. But as for what’s _underneath_... no way she’s pretty,” insisted Naruto, shaking his head firmly. “Most guys don’t really like that look, anyway. We like, er, you know... a little more fullness,” he added, somewhat sheepishly.

“Hmph. _He_ looks like he’s interested, though,” pointed out Ino, observing the large man sitting across from the skinny woman.

“Yeah, but he looks like an idiot,” muttered Naruto, sizing up the man with distaste. “I mean look at him - he’s got so many muscles that his head looks like a giant slab of meat. His whole body is like that...” Naruto trailed off, the fox-faced countenance returning. “Do girls really like that?” he wondered.

Ino began thinking about all her past crushes as she appraised the beefy man. She had never really noticed it, but the boys she found physically attractive were of a more slender build. She liked them cute and fit, yes, but not so much muscle-bound. Strange as it seemed, there was something excessively unnatural about it.

“Hmm, maybe some girls do - but I don’t. It’s kind of overkill, to be honest.” Ino shuddered, zeroing in on one thick vein that bulged out prominently. “Geez, I can see the nerves popping out of his neck. They look ready to burst!”

“Yeah, it’s freakish,” agreed Naruto, perking up. “It’s funny, but their kind seems to go together a lot, huh?”

“Yes they do, now that you mention it,” admitted Ino, thinking with irritation about a few similar couples that she knew of. As much as Ino enjoyed matchmaking, she’d always found something unlikable about such pairs: they seemed to be more about showing off than being in love. “And they’re almost all obnoxious,” she added sourly.

“Ha!” snorted Naruto, bursting into a mischievous grin. “But at least you and I know what to call them now: Carrot Stick Girl...”

“And Meat Head Boy,” smirked Ino.

Catching each other’s eye, they both began snickering. It felt strangely good to share that kind of joke with Naruto, although Ino would never have guessed that they could ever participate in such an unusual conversation. But then, it was amazing that talking to Naruto wasn’t nearly as weird as she’d once thought.

As Ino was contemplating this, the waitress arrived with their order. Smiling benignly at the pair, she placed a dish before Ino with a flourish.

“Here you go, Miss - one house specialty Cherry Tomato Salad. _Bon appetit_!”

Struck speechless, Ino could only gaze in wonder at the enticing plate. She felt her mouth start to water spontaneously and hastily pressed a hand discretely over her lips. Looking up at Naruto, Ino found him contentedly watching her, that unflappable smile back in place. “How did you know that I loved cherry tomatoes so much?” she finally burst out.

Naruto shrugged, watching the waitress refill their glasses. “Oh, that was all thanks to Choji’s advice. He told me that they were your favorite.”

“You... you actually went and asked Choji what I liked to eat?”

“Yeah, and then he said you’d love this. Plus you can eat all you want to. It’s only a salad, right?” 

Oblivious to Ino’s dumbfounded look, Naruto began poking curiously at his dish. _Cute little tomatoes, huh? Well, it sure isn’t ramen but I guess once won’t kill me... I hope._ Noticing something, Naruto grinned up at her. “Hey look, Ino - no carrots!”

“Er... right,” mumbled Ino, still at a loss for words. She felt strangely warm all over.

“Is there anything else you’d like now?” asked the waitress, who was watching them both with avid interest. “Please just go ahead and ask. It’s not every day I get to see such a cute young couple at this restaurant,” she added by way of explanation.

Startled, both Naruto and Ino exchanged uncertain glances with each other. Then Naruto began to laugh nervously as Ino blushed.

“No thanks,” said Naruto quickly. “I think we’re all set here.”

“T-thank you,” murmured Ino as she began digging into her salad. _How embarrassing..._

\----------

Far up in the branches above Naruto and Ino, a silent storm was beginning to brew.

A dark feeling was building inside Shikamaru as he watched Ino blissfully popping tomato after tomato into her mouth. He couldn’t understand what was happening at all. _Boys didn’t necessarily like skinny girls as much as everyone claimed_ \- he’d been saying it for years now, even if it was mostly behind Ino’s back. So how was it that Naruto could get her listen to _him_ in less than one hour?

Next to Shikamaru, Sakura was also struggling to make sense of Ino’s new dining habits. _I can’t believe it_ , she thought as she stared down in wide-eyed amazement. _She’s practically eating like a pig!_


	11. Shopping For A Clue

In the busy market district of downtown Konoha, Naruto and Ino strolled along side by side, periodically stopping to casually browse the various tables of merchandise that lined the street. They were in no hurry, and Ino was enjoying herself immensely. She had always loved shopping - she often bragged that the consumer instinct was her personal bloodline limit - but never had Ino expected to find a boy who seemed to enjoy it as much, too.

Especially since that boy was Uzumaki Naruto.

It had been Naruto’s suggestion to come this direction following their meal at _The Golden Grove_ , and in a mood to be extremely accommodating, Ino had readily agreed. In truth, she had secretly wanted to see if he would surprise her again, although really she doubted anything could top _The Golden Grove_. Still, Naruto seemed to have a particular destination in mind, and he’d led her on with a smile and a relaxed promise of seeing ‘something really cool - just wait.’ So Ino couldn’t help feeling more intrigued than usual; it was probably due to that oddly confident attitude of his again...

While on the way to Naruto’s ‘mystery’ place, however, they had gotten sidetracked when Ino spotted a table filled with exotic perfumes, and before long they were taking a grand tour of the street. And that was how Ino discovered that Naruto had an innate curiosity for people and things that rivaled her own. Even though she could tell he was no more interested in women’s accessories than the average boy, he nevertheless watched and commented on everything she touched. Ino had a sneaking suspicion that he was taking notes off her for future reference, which was amusing - didn’t he have a horrible memory for details? But then she had to admit that Naruto had often proven himself to be surprisingly unpredictable... at least when he put his mind into doing something.

Luckily for her.

At present they were standing before a jewelry stall, where Ino was excitedly trying on various rings and holding her hand up to admire the effect. Naruto meanwhile was stooping down to examine one of the display cases, his fox-face firmly back in place. As Ino slipped a ring with her birth stone back into its holder, Naruto turned curiously towards her.

“Ino, what’s this funny looking one over here?”

She followed his pointing finger down to a row of rings. Recognizing their distinctive shape, Ino smiled with delight. “Oh, those are Claddagh rings! Wow, I had no idea they carried these here.”

“Claw... _duh_?” repeated Naruto, sounding baffled. “I’ve never heard of that!”

“They’re foreign,” explained Ino. She pulled one out and pointed at the metalwork. “The heart, hands, and crown on the band represent love, friendship, and loyalty. It’s supposed to represent the level of your relationship to someone, and it can be used between friends or lovers.” She looked thoughtfully at the ring before replacing it. “Anyway, it’s a special type of promise ring.”

“Promise ring?” wondered Naruto. He tilted his head curiously. “So what’s _that_?”

A dreamy look crossed Ino’s face and she giggled in spite of herself. She adored this kind of thing. “Oh, it’s _so_ romantic. A promise ring is a special ring that two people exchange when they make a vow to one another. For instance, if two lovers make a commitment to one another before they get engaged, they exchange rings as a pledge of the seriousness of their love, that they intend to be together forever one day. Friends can do it too, to seal a pact between them, or you can wear it alone to symbolize an oath you’ve taken. As long as everyone agrees on what the ring means, you continue wearing it as a permanent reminder of that agreement - that you will always remain true to your word.”

While Ino gazed fondly at the Claddagh rings, a faraway look came into Naruto’s eyes. Fingering his boutonniere, he smiled softly as an image of Sakura and Sasuke came to mind.

_The promise of a lifetime. Huh... I didn’t know that they made rings for that kind of thing._

A sigh escaped his lips, causing Ino to look at him in concern. Noticing this, Naruto began to laugh sheepishly. “Wow, Ino. You sure know a lot about jewelry,” he said quickly.

Ino returned a hesitant smile, feeling unusually wary as she examined his face: something about Naruto’s eyes and his mouth didn’t match up. Was he like this all the time? She didn’t know why, but for some reason this bothered her a lot - it seemed to be chipping away at her conscience...

“Well, I _am_ a first rate shopper,” said Ino after a moment, pushing aside her doubts. “And I just love jewelry.”

“Really?” Naruto dropped the grin, sending her a genuinely surprised look. “But I never see you wear much of it. Like _ever_.”

“It’s not like I can take it with me on missions,” explained Ino. “That’s too rough; I’d damage or lose everything! I only wear those things when I’m here at home.”

Naruto leaned in closer and Ino saw that he was staring at her earlobes. “But what about your earrings? You’re always wearing those no matter what...” He scratched his head, appearing to realize something. “Come to think of it, don’t you ever change them?”

“These are... different, Naruto,” murmured Ino, an unaccountable feeling of loneliness sweeping over her. “They’re not really jewelry. Well, I mean they _are_...”

Ino reached up and gingerly touched one of the studs. To her mind came a memory from the past, of the day she had gotten her first pair of earrings along with her teammates: the easy-going smile of Asuma, pleasantly surprised at their initiative; the cheerful grin of Choji, proud of surviving the terrifying ordeal; and the quiet half-smirk of Shikamaru, who had said little beyond remarking how troublesome it all was. They had all been so _close_ to one another that day, and now it felt like ages ago. They were older, they had gone through a lot together, they were all changing... and yet Ino was coming to realize that she had reached some kind of relationship impasse with her teammates, one she was at a loss to define. How was it she could feel so close to Shikamaru and Choji on the field of battle, yet so distant off of it?

No more so than in the past few days...

Ino shrugged to show her indifference. “These are the earrings that Asuma gave to us after Choji and I made chunin level along with Shikamaru. It’s just a Team Ten thing,” she finished quietly. 

“Hmm...” mussed Naruto, rubbing his chin. “I see. But didn’t you guys all once wear hoop earrings?”

“Yeah,” sighed Ino, thinking about a certain box she had carefully stored away in her vanity. “We got our first set together before the first chunin exam, back when we were all still genin. You see, our fathers were all on the same team before us, so it was kind of a tribute to them.” A rueful smile touched her face. “I was the one who put Shikamaru and Choji up to it.”

“Oh, I get it. So you all did it as a symbol of your friendship, right? You, Shikamaru and Choji - ‘ _Ino-Shika-Cho,_ ’ huh?” Naruto’s grin widened. His eyes shone with sympathetic understanding. “It was your own version of a promise ring.”

A jolt went through Ino, causing her to press a trembling hand against her chest. Turning away quickly, her eyes inadvertently fell once more on the Claddagh rings. Her heart seemed to constrict even more.

_Is it really? Even though you say that, Naruto, sometimes I can’t help wondering how deeply this one runs... if at all._

\----------

“Why are you doing that?”

“Eh?” mumbled Shikamaru distractedly, reluctantly tearing his gaze away from Ino. He was having difficulty peering through the mass of shoppers, trying to make out what she was doing with Naruto. It didn’t help that the buzz of the crowd was currently making it hard to listen in on their conversation.

“You’ve been playing with your earring for the past few minutes,” said Sakura, pointing at his hand. She gave him an odd look. “Didn’t you realize that?”

Baffled, Shikamaru hastily dropped his hand and shoved it into his pants pocket. _That was weird._ Glancing back down the street, he saw that Ino and Naruto had proceeded to the next stall. Sakura immediately mimicked them by moving forward also, prompting Shikamaru to follow. He sighed heavily. _But then everything is weird today._

Unable to feign interest in examining a table filled with hair ornaments along with Sakura, Shikamaru’s mind began to wander. Instantly all the troubling questions that had been pestering him for the past day surged forth, souring his mood further. _This is so ridiculously idiotic. How did this all even happen? Why did Naruto ask Ino out? Why did Ino really say yes?_ His eye falling on a familiarly shaped hair clip, he broke into an annoyed pout. _And why am I_ ** _still_** _here?_

These thoughts were all the more aggravating because, for whatever unknown reason, his brain wasn’t performing up to its regular speed. Shikamaru had eventually decided that this was likely due to fatigue: he’d had problems falling asleep the previous night. But even so he’d still managed to form a few theories that, on further consideration, pointed towards certain conclusions. It had taken more time than usual, but he was finally starting to feel that he was taking grasp of the situation, close to ferreting out the answers behind everything... all except for the last question.

_That’s totally irrelevant_ , thought Shikamaru scornfully, even as a pang of discomfort passed through him. _But speaking of things that_ ** _aren’t_** _as irrelevant as they’d like to appear..._

Turning his attention on Sakura, Shikamaru beetled his brows thoughtfully. Other than that bizarrely combative conversation about restaurants, she had been atypically reticent for the most part - clearly wrapped up in her own private agenda. And far too interested in what was going on between Ino and Naruto for routine friendship. It was irksome watching her, as Shikamaru had the unpleasant suspicion that he’d been acting much the same: like some brainless lunatic.

_Damn it all - I’ve been screwing around so far, letting myself be led around by the nose_ , he suddenly thought with disgust. _High time to get some real answers._

“It’s an interesting coincidence, Sakura,” began Shikamaru carefully as he monitored her out the corner of his eye. “First you come to ask Choji and me about Ino’s love life, and then the very next day Naruto announces that he’s taking her out on a _date_. Naruto and Ino, who’ve never shown any interest in each other before then... and who happen to be your teammate and your best friend.” He paused, noting how Sakura’s back quickly stiffened. “So mind telling me what’s really going on?”

Sakura’s eyes sparked as she turned to glower at Shikamaru. But then her face turned pink and she sagged in defeat. “Oh, all right... you got me,” she admitted with a groan. “ _I_ was the one who told Naruto to ask Ino out. This date was all my idea.”

Shikamaru blinked, surprised in spite of himself, and a dark weight seemed to fall off his shoulders. Although he’d suspected this, it was unusually gratifying to hear it being confirmed by Sakura. Naruto was only acting under orders from his teammate, not out of his own interests. _Although he’s typically going a bit overboard following them_ , thought Shikamaru with irritation. Then another unpleasant thought struck him. _Aw, man - this is a pity date? Ino’s going to be so ticked if she finds out..._

Unexpected sympathy rose up in Shikamaru, causing him to glance uncertainly down the street. He spotted Naruto messing around with one of those ridiculous claw vendor machines, and next to him stood Ino with a sad smile on her face. It hit Shikamaru that, as inexplicably obnoxious as he found this whole situation, how very unkind it was to spy on her like this. Tearing his embarrassed gaze away, Shikamaru was next struck by a curious sense of male injustice. Although he wasn’t entirely clear about the nature of Naruto and Sakura’s relationship, he was still certain that Sakura couldn’t be entirely unaware of Naruto’s feelings for her. And yet she had put him up to this. _Why would you do that to him?_

“Great. Now I see how it is,” muttered Shikamaru. “So after all you decided to go ahead and interfere with Ino’s life by setting her up on this sham of date. Real brilliant,” he added, a touch of bitterness in his voice.

“ _Excuse me_?” snapped Sakura, aiming a frosty glare at Shikamaru. Was _he_ actually daring to criticize her? “I don’t see what’s so ‘interfering’ about showing basic concern for my best friend! What kind of friend would I be if I just sat back and did nothing, seeing how she was acting?” Drawing a breath, Sakura had a vision of Ino slumped over in the flower shop, behaving almost like a total stranger. Her anger flared, and for a moment she forgot about everything else. “Geez, Shikamaru, weren’t you listening at all that day? I told you how depressed Ino was about her love life - do you think I was making that up? Although if you ask me it’s beyond _pathetic_ that neither you or Choji knew anything about it yourselves!”

“I already know all about Ino’s stupid obsessions,” remarked Shikamaru tightly, startled to feel a prickle of rising temper. There was something extremely galling about being lectured for failing to attend to his teammate. “But even if you were only trying to ‘help’ Ino, why did you make _Naruto_ ask her out?”

Upset though she was, Sakura was momentarily brought up short. Unwillingly, she recalled the expression on Naruto’s face right after she’d asked him for that favor: the startled brows, the stunned voice, the silly grin. _Hey… are you trying to set me up with her?_ Sakura sensed her heart slowly speeding up as guilt and confusion clouded her thoughts. It had been one of those times when his soft blue eyes seemed to be saying far more to her than the words that fell from his lips. Whenever Sakura inadvertently caught Naruto looking at her that way, she felt...

But that was not the point.

“Because I told you what all the other boys said! Kiba wasn’t interested, Shino wasn’t interested, Choji wasn’t interested - so who else was I supposed to ask? _You_ , Mr. I-Don’t-Give-A-Damn-About-Ino’s-Romantic-Life?” Sakura noted with pleasure the peeved look that crossed Shikamaru’s face and turned her back on him with an angry sniff. But then she spotted Naruto’s messy head bobbing through the crowds, and her hauteur quickly faded. “Besides... I honestly didn’t think Ino would ever say yes to Naruto,” she admitted quietly.

_Huh. Neither did I_ , thought Shikamaru, unexpectedly feeling the dark weight that had briefly lifted settling back down on him. Although he’d now solved part of the mystery behind this puzzle, he was still missing the piece he really wanted - Ino’s side of it. With this thought in his mind, a perplexing indecisiveness overcame Shikamaru. Two halves warred inside the confused teenager: his reawakened sense of protectiveness towards his blonde teammate versus his gnawing desire to rip apart her facade. ‘Troublesome’ didn’t begin to describe it - but then he was distracted by Sakura’s next comment.

“Speaking of interesting coincidences, Shikamaru, there’s something I’ve been wondering about, too.” Sakura trained her eyes on his face, fixing Shikamaru with a keen gaze. “Imagine my surprise yesterday when I heard Naruto complaining about getting into an argument with _you_ \- although you’re not the type who likes to fight at all. And then today I run into you outside of Naruto’s apartment, bent on following him - though you’re also not the type to hold a grudge over something petty like that.” Sakura couldn’t resist smirking as she watched Shikamaru’s face grow stoney. “So what’s the real story? Why are you following Naruto?”

“You already know why,” mumbled Shikamaru, his expression falling inscrutably flat. But Sakura wasn’t buying it.

“Oh, _please_ \- do you really expect me to believe that you’ve been following Naruto all this time just to apologize to him?” retorted Sakura, rolling her eyes. Then she arched a brow as another possibility struck her. “Or... is it someone _else_ you’re really interested in? Someone named _Ino_?”

“And what about _you_?” asked Shikamaru sharply, his patience slipping. “You’re really going out of your way just to monitor your _best friend’s date_.”

“It’s my fault that Ino ended up on a date with Naruto - that’s the reason why I’m following her!”

“Oh, are you? Because if that’s the case, why plant a bug on _Naruto_? And why were you waiting outside of _his_ house instead of Ino’s?”

“I... that’s none of your business!” cried Sakura defensively.

“And the same goes to you,” muttered Shikamaru. 

A tense silence fell between them, and Sakura felt the urge to renew the attack, if nothing more than to get Shikamaru to drop the idea that she was actually following Naruto. But at that moment, a commotion down the street drew their attention - along with everyone else’s.


	12. A Public Affair

Naruto was in a quandary.

True, this wasn’t such an unusual state for the young _shinobi_ to be in; Naruto himself would be the first to (reluctantly) concede that he could take down any challengers for his champion’s title in cluelessness. But contrary to popular opinion, he wasn’t completely dense, and he could tell that something was going wrong with his date. Ino was looking really depressed, which was odd given that she seemed happy enough up until a few minutes ago. This didn’t bode well, as he was reminded of yet another of Iruka’s caveats:

_Fourth Rule of Combat Dating_

_Morale is the greatest single factor in successful dates._

Naruto was worried that he’d let Sakura down if he didn’t do a good job of his date with Ino. But he acknowledged that, weirdly, there was now more to it than pleasing his teammate. He was actually enjoying this outing with Ino. It was certainly not what he had been expecting. For starters, although the scene with her parents had been unpleasant, Ino’s reaction was far more surprising. As was sharing a laugh with her over dinner. Then just walking around the shop stalls getting to know her a little more. Naruto had to admit that Ino _was_ kind of nice, when she wasn’t acting all bossy and scary.

But he was at a complete loss to explain her sudden mood swing. And Naruto found he much rather preferred to see Ino smiling than sad. So what was a good date supposed to do in this situation? He thought back to the expression on her face when she first saw the corsage. _Oh, yeah. Maybe I should get her something nice?_ Naruto began furtively scanning the street, racking his brain for an idea - and then he spotted a toy crane machine filled with an assortment of little stuffed animals. He perked up. _Dolls... girls like that sort of thing, right?_

“Hey, Ino,” said Naruto as he gestured towards the machine. “Want me to win you one of these?”

_Oh brother_ , thought Ino as she eyed the cage. It had been ages since she’d last played with a doll or even collected anything so cute and cuddly. It just wasn’t cool beyond a certain age, and ever ahead of the curve, Ino had been one of the first in her year to rid herself of any childish possessions. “Er, that’s all right, Naruto,” she answered without much enthusiasm.

“Are you sure?” asked Naruto, somewhat deflated. “But you look so depressed right now - wouldn’t you _like_ something to cheer you up?” 

“ _Huh_?” Taken aback, Ino felt her cheeks go warm. Had she been that obvious? She’d been thinking about her team for the past few minutes, and particularly about a certain annoyed-looking boy last seen toppling out of her window. But she hadn’t meant to spoil the occasion by falling into melancholy. “Oh... you don’t have to do that,” answered Ino softly.

“It’s no problem,” replied Naruto, taking that as a signal for permission. “Just watch, Ino - I have a lot of skill at these things!”

Ino sighed as she watched Naruto feed a coin into the machine and start fiddling with the crane. Regardless of how she felt about dolls, she was moved by the gesture. It was very sweet of Naruto to pay attention to her like that. Not at all what she was used to.

A sad smile crossed Ino’s face. If only Naruto had been someone else...

There was a loud clunk as the crane dropped, and Naruto stood back in disappointment. “Geez, so _close_...” He scratched his head and then pulled out another coin. “Let’s try that again.”

Ino said nothing as Naruto wrestled with the controls and once more failed to grab a doll. Before long he was hopping up and down in his agitation, reviling the machine and growing louder with each new unsuccessful attempt. Finally he stood back with a snort of disgust. “Aw, this thing is rigged!”

“Let’s just go, Naruto,” urged Ino, beginning to get impatient. “Don’t keep wasting your money on this thing!”

Unfortunately, a competitive urge had gripped Naruto and he now viewed the game as a personal challenge. “Let me try one more time,” he said, flexing his fingers. He regarded the crane, a foxy glint in his eyes. “I’ve got an idea...”

She groaned. Hadn’t Sakura once warned her about how stubborn he could be? Shaking her head, Ino turned to idly observe the passing crowd and didn’t see Naruto positioning his hands, closing his eyes in concentration. She did, however, sense the distinctive chakra spike, causing her to look back just in time to see Naruto placing his hands on the controls.

“Don’t!” cried Ino, alarm coursing through her as she realized what he was about to do. “These machines have an anti-tampering device built in to prevent that kind of -!”

But Naruto gave a mighty yank. Then he watched, dumbfounded, as the machine mysteriously glowed blue... and exploded.

Instinctively, Ino threw up an arm to ward off the rain of stuffed dolls that showered down around her. After the noise died down she remained frozen in place, certain that every eye on the street was staring at her. A tremor ran through her body.

_One social disaster, currently in progress. Thanks so much, Naruto._

Lowering her hand, Ino realized that she had inadvertently caught one of the dolls. Not that she gave a damn. Advancing on Naruto, Ino got ready to strangle him - but to her amazement, the idiot was grinning widely at her.

“Hey, Ino - you got the frog!”

Ino sucked in a lung full of air, preparing to lay waste to the foolish boy. At that moment, however, a shriek of laughter cut through the scene, like nails on a chalkboard. She cringed.

_Oh hell no_ , thought Ino, her guard immediately going up. _What is_ ** _she_** _doing here?_

The shrill laughter abated. “Well, well... if it isn’t _Princess_ Yamanaka,” taunted a catty girl’s voice.

Turning to face her adversary, Ino regarded her through narrowed eyes. “Ami,” she answered coolly. 

A dark-haired girl with pale eyes stood a few feet away, her arms crossed in a haughty manner. For a few seconds nothing was said as the two teenagers sized each other up, and Ino frowned with distaste. She had never liked Ami. Back during their academy years, Ino had flat-out refused to be friends with her - it was the start of their history of bad blood. Other girls may have been beguiled or afraid of her, but not Ino. She’d always known Ami for what she was: a manipulative, bullying little wannabe. 

_You never change, do you?_ thought Ino, watching Ami finish giving her a cold once-over. Then her back stiffened as the other girl spotted the frog. Ami’s thin lips immediately curved into a feline smirk, and a predatory glint came into her icy eyes.

“Aren’t you a bit _old_ to be playing with dolls, Ino?” she sneered, her face alight with malicious glee. “Don’t you know you’ll never get a man if you keep acting like a little girl?”

“I guess _you_ would know all about that,” retorted Ino in an even voice, though peeved that Ami had managed to hit a sore spot. “Out trolling for boys all by your lonesome again?”

“Hmph - who says that I’m alone?” said Ami smugly. Looking back over her shoulder, she hitched a finger. “ _Ken!_ Get over here!”

A young man stepped out of the crowd behind Ami. He was large and muscular, and Ino recognized him right away, though he’d grown a lot since their academy days. Although strong, he was never one of the more promising candidates and he’d also failed to make _genin_ like Ami and so many others. Not that he seemed to care, judging from the overconfident strut as he approached. He came up next to Ami and slid an arm around her shoulders - all the while leering at Ino over his girlfriend’s head. “Hey there,” he greeted her with a wink.

Ino bristled. _Dream on, you creep._

Unaware of her boyfriend’s roving eyes, Ami wrapped herself around his waist while keeping a close watch on Ino’s face. “As you can see, I’m already spoken for.”

“And what a lovely couple you make,” muttered Ino, annoyance quickly rising inside of her as Ami gloated. Although she didn’t envy Ami’s taste in men, it grated awfully hard that even a tramp like her had managed to get a boyfriend. Still, Ino couldn’t help marveling at her enemy’s utter shallowness. _Who do you think you’re kidding?_ _Only a skank like you would grab at a slimeball like him - and then go around bragging about it!_ _Honestly, I’ll bet he was the first one who ever -_

Unexpectedly Ino heard Shikamaru’s voice speaking distinctly in her mind.

_Since when was it smart to close your eyes and grab at anyone who looks your way, acting as if every guy was exactly the same? Hell, Ino, you’re blind ‘cause you_ **_just don’t get it_ ** _._

Brutal clarity smacked Ino in the face as she recalled the resolution that she’d made a few days before and the ensuing fight with Shikamaru. She had been sincere about wanting to make a change and she firmly believed that she’d done the right thing. But Ino now saw that, good intentions aside, she hadn’t really thought it all the way through nor truly understood the underlying point to Shikamaru’s assertions. Wasn’t she out with Naruto primarily because she wanted to prove her new ‘open-mindedness’ and not because she saw anything special about him? Hadn’t she even felt somewhat self-congratulatory on that fact? Ino saw a vision of herself in Ami’s place, preening with misplaced self-satisfaction, while in Ken’s place stood all the boys she’d ever idealized, from Sasuke to Sai and now even Naruto, her own ill-conceived version of a ‘trophy’ date. Ino’s stomach clenched painfully as she realized that once more Shikamaru had been right about her... and again in the worst possible way.

_How is it I can be so horribly dense about these things? Why am I so slow to understand?_ Ino quailed as a feeling darker than anything she’d experienced in the past few months permeated her heart. _Is it only my faults you ever see, Shikamaru? Is that why you think I’m so...?_

Naruto chose that moment to reappear besides Ino, having finally managed to extract himself from the wreckage of machinery and toys. Unable to see around her back, he’d been uncertain as to whom she was arguing with. “Hey, Ino, what’s go-” he began, but the question died as soon as he spotted Ami. “... oh. _You_.” 

On seeing Naruto, Ami let go of Ken and stepped in closer, her eyes growing wide. Then her smirk managed to grow yet more insufferably smug as she cast a delighted look at Ino. “Don’t tell me - you two are actually _going out together_?”

Anger flared through Ino, briefly shaking her out of the black mood. “Shut up, you snotty little -,” she snarled, preparing to raise her hand. But Ami wasn’t listening.

“Oh, this is too much! The high and mighty Ino, dating the biggest loser in the entire village!” she shrieked, overcome with mirth. “What’s the matter, Yamanaka - couldn’t get anyone else to go out with you? Or is this some kind of a _pity date_?” Her laughter became shrill again as she clasped her sides and bent over. “Though in this case I have to wonder who’s pitying whom!”

Ino dropped her hand and turned pale. She dimly sensed all her emotions rapidly draining out like a plug yanked from a sink, leaving her insides achingly hollow. Normally Ami’s taunting was like the yipping of a small dog: obnoxious yet easy to ignore. But even mongrels could bite hard, and without fully comprehending why Ino knew that Ami had inadvertently struck at the truth. _Is that the real reason Naruto asked me out? Because he felt sorry for me?_ After everything that had happened, it made far too much sense to dismiss out of hand...

Unaware of his companion’s distress, Naruto furrowed his brows in puzzlement. ‘ _Pity’ date? Is that what this is all about?_ A light bulb turned on in his brain as he recalled Sakura’s words when she had begged him to ask Ino out:

_I think it would be good for her if someone, you know, flattered her a bit by asking her out on a date ..._ _but the real point is to make her feel desirable. It’ll be good for her ego!_

Aw, man.

Hastily turning towards Ino, Naruto was shocked by the change that had overcome her: she had wrapped her trembling arms around herself and was staring down at the ground with imploring eyes, apparently longing for it to open up. He could only gape, at a loss for comforting words. Never would Naruto have expected to see someone as proud as Ino brought so low... and before such an utter _cow_ no less. Burning with indignation, he wheeled on Ami.

_“Pity has nothing to do with this!”_

Ami stopped laughing abruptly, thrown by the expression on Naruto’s face: his eyes were blazing with blue fire as he fixed her with a fierce glare. Ino looked up uncertainly.

“I didn’t ask Ino out because I felt sorry for her. And I’ve never thought of her as someone that I _should_ feel sorry for!” yelled Naruto, his words carrying throughout the street. “To be honest, when I asked Ino out I didn’t really know all that much about her, even though I’ve known her for years. I always thought that she was someone I couldn’t talk to and had nothing in common with - but I was wrong!” Pausing to draw breath, he thought back over the events of the past few hours. “What I know about Ino now is so much different from what I thought about her before! She can be very kind, and friendly, and funny, and smart, and she cares _a lot_ for her friends - in short, _Ino is a person that I admire!_ ” 

Color returned to Ino’s cheeks and her heart began to race. Her mouth fell open slightly as a small gasp escaped her lips.

_Naruto... do you really mean that?_

“If I hadn’t asked her to come out with me today, I don’t think I’d ever have known just how cool a person she really is. So you can say what you want about a girl like her dating a so-called loser like me, and call this a ‘pity’ date - but _I’m_ not sorry at all!” Nostrils flaring, Naruto jabbed his finger directly at Ami. “And at least it’s not a pitiful sham of a date like the one _you’re_ on right now!”

The taunting smirk melted off Ami’s face. “ _Pitiful sham_?” she sputtered, a funny look crossing her eyes.

“There’s no mystery in what it takes to attract someone like _this_ lunkhead!” shot back Naruto. “Or to keep him at your side!”

Ami stared at Naruto, flushing purple. It took a further moment, but Ken (who had mostly been eyeing Ino throughout this exchange) broke into a menacing scowl. He took a threatening step towards Naruto, who was glaring back defiantly - but then Ami shoved her way in between them. Her frosty eyes bore into Naruto’s.

“Was it your _lucky day_ , Naruto, when you got this stuck-up princess to go out with you?” Ami hissed at him in a voice suffused with cold hatred. “Did it make you want to pinch yourself just to see if it was real? Were you off bragging about it to your other loser friends straight afterwards?” Her mouth twisted into a contemptuous sneer. “Though I’ll bet no one believed you - and over what must have been the biggest moment of your whole sorry life to date!”

Naruto grimaced, but his countenance remained steady as he returned Ami’s gaze. “I don’t care at all what you think about me, but for the record, the biggest moment of my life is yet to come - because I’m going to be the Hokage one day! _Believe it!_ ”

She rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Are you still spouting that garbage? As if a disgusting freak could ever become Hokage!” Pausing briefly to consider his words, Ami suddenly sent Naruto a particularly vicious look. “Then again, how a world-class dunce like you ever made _genin_ to begin with is beyond me. Like my mother says, it only proves that the academy’s standards have been slipping for years... or maybe it’s true that they’re just playing the pity card on the _pathetic orphan_!”

Ami’s words hung over the unnaturally quiet street like a suffocating blanket, the silence disturbed only by Ken’s appreciative snickering. Naruto stood stock-still, his muscles straining with tension, and Ino could see that he desperately longed to punch Ami but wouldn’t. Unexpectedly she flashed on an old memory, of Sakura cowering helplessly as Ami tore into her, unable to defend herself from the verbal onslaught while Ami’s cronies watched and laughed... 

Outraged fury filled her heart. 

Reaching up, Ino yanked out the chopsticks holding her hair bun in place. Then with one fluid motion she threw the pair, watching with satisfaction as they sliced their way through the air and cut twin trails across Ami’s cheeks. She let out a startled yelp.

“What the hell?” gasped Ami, touching her face in shock. On seeing the blood on her fingers, she glowered furiously at Ino. “How _dare_ you, Yamanaka - I’ll report you for this!”

“That was merely an attention-getter, since I don’t want your narrow little mind missing this _fine point_ ,” said Ino scornfully, drawing herself up to her full height as the force of her ire burst forth. “How dare _you_ say something horrible like that to Naruto, you nasty, despicable snake! If you want to make rude comments about someone’s family, take a look at your own! As for the academy, Naruto made _genin_ because he earned it, just like the rest of us who managed to pass that test and didn’t _flunk_ it outright. You don’t have any clue about what kind of a person he is... but _I_ do, and let me tell you right now that if anyone here deserves pity it’s Naruto, for having to listen to the ranting of a sore loser!”

Livid with rage, Ami began to shake. She started opening her mouth to retaliate, but Ino (who was just hitting her stride) cut her off.

“And I’ll tell you something else, Ami. This pitiful so-called rivalry you have going with me is nothing but a sad excuse to cover for your own miserable, empty life. You’ve always called me a queen bee, but you have no idea what kind of a venomous wasp _you_ are. You’re so superficial that all you’ve ever focused on is grasping onto whatever makes you look better than everyone else: the best clothes, the coolest friends, the hottest guys. But you never hesitated to ditch anything or anyone whenever something better came along, or to cut down anybody you felt threatened by, no matter how petty the reason. I was never like that - and I’d have sooner choked than to ever become the friend of a scheming, back-stabbing hypocrite like you!”

“ _Hypocrite_?” shrieked Ami. She pointed an accusatory finger at Ino. “You’re no different than me - you’re nothing but an overrated, conceited, flakey boy-chaser yourself!”

“ _Wrong_! Whatever faults you think I have, the difference between you and me is that I don’t use people, or hide what I am from anyone - and I actually give a damn about others!” snapped Ino. Then a wry smirk crept across her face as she realized something else that had crystalized in the past few hours. She glanced disgustedly over at Ken before addressing her enemy again. “And as for chasing boys... here’s a secret, Ami dear. I have something called _standards_. Unlike you the guy I want will have brains bigger than his biceps, a deeply caring heart, and he won’t go after any girl just for her pretty face - or because she’s available. And I don’t care if the boy I eventually end up with is the strongest, or the best-looking, or has so much talent in one finger that he can take on the whole village. I just want someone who loves me the best, who knows me the best, who wants me for being _me_ \- because I intend to be the same way with him!”

Ino heaved a sigh of relief as she finally stopped for breath, surprised to find that her heart had grown buoyant. Saying all that out loud had washed away much of the confusion and self-doubt of the past day; moreover she felt as if some previously unknown yet critical corner had at last been turned. Strangely, she also had the sensation that somewhere Shikamaru was approving her, ridiculous as that was. But the thought made Ino feel better as she pityingly observed her would-be rival.

_You're the one who’s blind, Ami. You'll never get it - but I do. Finally._

Much elated, Ino glanced over at Naruto and gave a start. He was gazing wide-eyed at her, wearing an oddly dazed, grateful expression... and reminding her strongly of the first day she’d met Sakura. Another realization came to Ino as it struck her how incredibly similar those two were in certain ways; how much Naruto was also someone who had always been struggling to bloom - she had just never really noticed before. Touched with a warm, affectionate feeling, she quickly flashed him an encouraging smile.

“Don't _ever_ sell yourself short, Naruto,” said Ino fiercely as she reached out to place a hand on his shoulder. “A person only has to get to know you to realize that you're a thousand times the worth of a jackass like him - and a million times that of a _sow_ like her!”

Rendered momentarily speechless, Naruto simply goggled at her. Then he broke into a slow, wide grin and self-consciously threw his arms up behind his head. “Heh. ’Course not, Ino!”

“Oh, _ha ha_ ,” spat Ami, drawing their wary attention back on her. Ino could see by her blazing black scowl that Ami would have loved nothing more than to scratch her eyes out but knew better than to try it. Her tongue, however, was free to strike. “I wouldn’t be making cracks about swine if I were you, _Ino-pig_... even if that’s the highest level of the boy you can ever aspire to!” With a final guffaw of derisive laughter as Ino fumed, she turned to leave. “I’m bored with these losers. Come on, let’s get out of here, Ke...!”

The words died in Ami’s throat as she took in the scene before her.

Mysteriously in broad daylight, smack in the middle of the busy downtown street, there was now standing a very blonde, very lovely, very _naked_ young woman - and she was unashamedly twining her sinuous body around Ken’s. He in turn was staring down at her, looking utterly gobsmacked.

“Hey there, big boy,” she purred up at him. “Did I keep you waiting long?”

“ _Who the hell is this slut?_ ” demanded Ami, incensed by the woman’s lascivious actions towards her boyfriend... and more so by the glazed, eager look that had appeared on his face.

Oblivious to the stir she was creating, the blonde merely giggled as she began to suggestively stroke Ken’s slackened jaw. “Why don’t you ditch this little girl... and come have some _real_ fun with me?”

If Ken had been harboring any doubts as to why a beautiful, nude woman would appear out of nowhere to seduce him in public, they instantly evaporated in a haze of hormonal vapors. Sliding his arm around her, he broke into a knowing leer. “ _Okay_.”

“ _Ken_! What do you think you’re doing?” cried Ami, her face screwed up in indignant mortification. 

Looking up, Ken seemed genuinely surprised to see her. For a moment he appeared curiously blank-faced, but then the blonde started to rub up against his arm. Standing up on tiptoe, she whispered something softly into his ear, causing the stupid grin to slide back into place. His mind made up, Ken winked at the woman and then addressed his girlfriend. “It was fun while it lasted,” he told her with a casual shrug. “Catch you later, Ami.”

Appalled disbelief washed over Ami as she watched the new couple start to walk away from her. Then hot wrath erupted from her eyes. “Catch _this_ , you dirty... rotten... !”

With a wild howl, Ami launched herself at Ken’s backside. Delivering a hail of blows to his head, she sent her ex careening headlong into a display of metalware which came down on top of him with a mighty crash. He immediately keeled over in an undignified heap, but Ami was already too preoccupied elsewhere to care: she had grabbed hold of the blonde’s long hair and the two were now rolling on the ground, kicking and pulling at each other and screaming like banshees.

Shaking her head in exasperation, Ino sidestepped Naruto (who was doubled over with laughter) and snatched up a bucket of waste water from a nearby food stall. Advancing on the skirmishing forms, however, she couldn’t suppress a devilish smile. “ _Oh, Ami_...” sang Ino sweetly as she unceremoniously upended the pail’s contents. 

There was a shriek followed by a loud _pop_ , and then Ami was staggering upright, sputtering and coughing. She scanned around bewilderedly for her missing opponent but instead only spotted the prone body of her former (soundly cold-cocked) boyfriend. On seeing Ino wryly observing her, Ami yelped in disgust as she suddenly registered the state of her clothes. Next she noticed the tittering of the crowd around them, causing her to turn a deep crimson.

“My, my... shouldn’t an academy graduate at the very least know a _clone_ when she sees one?” remarked Ino, clucking her tongue mockingly. Then she smirked broadly while giving Ami a cool appraisal. “By the way, that’s a really good look for you - just like a pig wallowing in slops.”

Ami glared at Ino with reddening eyes as the slimy water streamed off of her. “Yamanaka Ino - you’re such a _bitch_!”

“Bitch?” said Ino, arching a brow in amusement. “How ironic, coming from you. But if I am, Ami dear, it’s only because I care - and at least I do it with _style_.”

Bawling with frustration and humiliation, Ami spun away and fled. A reckless impulse seized Ino as she watched her enemy’s retreating back. Stepping out into the middle of the street, she raised her hands to her mouth and hollered after Ami with all her might:

_“GO TELL ALL OF KONOHA THAT YAMANAKA INO IS GOING OUT WITH UZUMAKI NARUTO!”_

Chuckling lightly, Ino gave a habitual toss of her head, causing her to realize that her hair had fallen out of the bun and was swirling freely around her face. She pulled out a tie and quickly pulled everything back into the customary ponytail. Naruto, who had finally stopped laughing, was brought up short by the sight of her actions. 

_Wow... pretty._

He blinked, discomfited by the unusual feeling. Becoming uncharacteristically abashed, Naruto immediately dropped his eyes when Ino glanced over at him. He heard her give a faint snort of laughter.

“I want to thank you for doing that, Naruto.”

Lifting his head back up, Naruto gazed uncertainly at Ino. “Uh, it was my pleasure,” he answered with some astonishment, finding it weird to hear anyone aside from Jiraiya or Konohamaru complimenting him for employing his infamous _Sexy no Jutsu._ Then Naruto noted the chilling look Ino was sending him.

“But if you ever pull that stunt in front of me again, I'll have to clobber you... understand?” she added sweetly.

A shudder passed through Naruto. “Er... okay,” he said weakly. _Geez... scary!_

She smirked at the expression on his face. “Just kidding! _Mostly_ , anyway.” Taking a step towards Naruto, Ino felt something soft bump against her foot. The frog doll was still laying on the ground where she had dropped it during the argument with Ami. With a shrug Ino bent down to scoop the toy up, tucking it firmly into the crook of her arm. Then she beamed a teasing smile at Naruto. “Well _that_ was fun. So... where are you taking me now?”

The peculiar awkwardness disappeared and happiness immediately filled Naruto. _Even after all that, I guess the date is still on!_ Returning the grin, he began to rack his brain for a suitable mantra.

_Fifth Rule of Combat Dating_

_???_

Mystifyingly, Naruto drew a blank, yet he remained unperturbed that nothing came to mind. Recalling one final piece of advice that Iruka had given him, he threw out the rule book - he really didn’t need it anymore. Instead Naruto held out his arm companionably and received a pleasant jolt when Ino slipped her own through it. Together they began to stroll off down the street.

“There’s this really cool place I think you’d like a lot...”

\----------

Shikamaru stood quietly in the street, for once unnaturally oblivious to his surroundings, being that he was lost in the power of the silent thunder rumbling through him. His jaw was clenched painfully tight and his eyes were like chilled steel, both focused wholly on the arm Ino had casually linked with Naruto’s. Though gripped by a thoroughly alien sensation, he was smart enough to finally understand the implications behind the feelings he had been stubbornly repressing for the past day. Was it always like a bomb going off when an emotional realization violently hits you?

Regardless, it was a bitter admission, leaving Shikamaru feeling even more strained than before and pushing the edge of his reserves. But then he’d been on an emotional roller coaster all day, and no more so than in the past fifteen minutes. For though being hidden on the sidelines, he too had been as much wrapped up in the battle with Ami as had Ino - he already had an axe to grind in regards to her numerous past slights against Choji. When the word ‘pity date’ came up, however, Shikamaru experienced a new depth of anger he hadn’t previously suspected of himself: he’d been scant seconds away from putting the _Kagemane no Jutsu_ on Ami and walking her into the side of a building, chivalry be damned... and then Naruto piped up.

And then it seemed as if the entire world had shifted underneath him.

Shikamaru was at a loss to adequately process what had happened in that short space of time. He could still see Ino in his mind, fiery and fierce, and at long last uttering the sentiments he’d been longing to hear from her for years. How was it that for one minute he’d been riding high, never feeling more _proud_ of Ino as at that moment - and then have it all come crashing down around him, feeling as if she had plunged a knife into him and torn his guts out?

_Go tell all of Konoha that Yamanaka Ino is going out with Uzumaki Naruto!_

The sick feeling in his stomach intensified as he watched Ino leaving with Naruto. Though his face remained hard, Shikamaru felt uncommonly vulnerable inside.... and restless. Something deep within was slowly stirring itself up...

His attention was suddenly drawn by the sound of an awning pole snapping cleanly in half. Glancing over at his partner-in-spying, Shikamaru raised an alarmed eyebrow. Sakura, who had fallen strangely silent right after Ino’s declaration (though before then had been cheering her best friend on), was cracking her knuckles in a foreboding manner. Her eyes sparked like glowing embers as she aimed an angry glare at a certain troublesome blonde’s backside.

“What is it with that _vixen_ and the members of my team?!?”


	13. Hidden Things

As implied by its name, the Village Hidden in the Leaves had never lacked for green spaces. It was dotted throughout its forested borders by grassy fields and open lots, which were primarily dedicated to the serious business of training ninjas. But it also had a fair share of parks, and the most impressive had once been the private grounds of the first Hokage. After his passing, the spectacular gardens had been preserved in memorial and opened to the public, and many generations of villagers had since passed through this cherished local attraction.

Within the park were several favorite hotspots, such as the suspended tree walk, the bridged _koi_ ponds, and the ever popular cherry tree-lined central corridor. But there were also a handful of smaller, less-traveled paths that afforded more privacy and, naturally, had a particular appeal for courting couples. One of these ran along the banks of a small canal, and this was where Naruto and Ino (who had already canvassed most of the park) were now strolling together. 

At first Ino felt let down when she learned that this had been their secret destination - though she did love the gardens, they were hardly a surprise. Her family had been coming here for years, though mostly to compete in the floral shows. But Ino’s disappointment quickly faded away once she and Naruto began to wander around the flower beds and foliage. An idle comment about watering plants had led into a deeper conversation about gardening in general, and they had been talking non-stop for almost an hour since.

“You know what? You really surprise me, Naruto,” remarked Ino at last, thinking how much of an understatement that was. “I had no idea you loved plants, too.”

“Well, maybe not quite as much as you do, Ino, but it’s fun to water them. And I dunno...” A semi-embarrassed grin crept across Naruto’s face. “There’s something nice about having a living thing nearby, you know? Anyone can learn to take care of a plant - they like the attention. And they make the home feel a little less empty, too.” 

It was another of those moments that caused Ino to glance uncomfortably at Naruto, but he seemed unperturbed by this latest indirect admission. “Anyway, I’ve gotten lots better at it over time. I even gave Kakashi one of my plants for his birthday a few years ago. He really liked it - named it Mr. Ukki.”

“Master _Kakashi_ did that?” marveled Ino. It was weird to think of the famously pragmatic ninja doing something as sentimental as naming a plant.

“Yeah - and so far, Mr. Ukki seems to be doing just fine.” Naruto began scratching his head thoughtfully. “Come to think of it, I’m going to have to get him a present really soon. His birthday is in a few days - on the 15th.”

“Oh, really? How interesting - I was born in September, too.” Now it was Ino’s turn to wear a self-deprecating smile. Obsessing over her upcoming birthday had been the trigger of all her woes, and now it didn’t matter so much anymore. “Mine is on the 23rd. I’m a Libra,” she added.

“Er... what’s a Libra?”

Ino sighed in exasperation. She was not a patient person by nature and answering Naruto’s constant questions about well-known subjects was wearing thin - no wonder Sakura pounded him so much. Still, Ino supposed she couldn’t really fault him for not knowing as much about this as she did. It was another of those romantic things that she adored for the hidden symbolism.

“Libra is the name of a star sign - a constellation in the western Zodiac. Basically it’s a system that’s supposed to dictate your personality depending on the position of the stars on the day you were born.” Ino couldn’t resist giving a proud toss of her head. “My star sign is Libra, which according to myth represents the ‘scales of justice.’ It means that we’re the diplomatic, charming, idealistic, sociable ones... not withstanding our excellent taste, stunning good looks, and love of beauty!”

But if Ino expected Naruto to join in on the playful self-mockery, one look at his face erased that. “And this is the reason why people are the way they are - just because of the day they were _born_?” he demanded skeptically. For some reason he seemed extremely put-off at the idea.

“You don’t have to take it _that_ seriously - I certainly don’t,” said Ino quickly as she raised a brow. “But it is kind of fun for analyzing your personality: why you act the way you do, why you’re drawn to the things and people that you are - sometimes it’s almost like it really _was_ written in the stars! And then it gets especially interesting when you get into the love signs...” Noticing Naruto’s eyes start to glaze over in the manner that precipitated a new round of questions, Ino rushed to head him off. “Anyway, when’s your birthday?”

“October 10th.”

“Okay, so that would make you...” Briefly shutting her eyes as she recalled the zodiacal dates, they flew open as she realized something. “Hey - you’re a Libra, too!”

“Oh, yeah?” said Naruto happily. Even though he thought the premise was highly questionable, he really liked the idea that he was naturally charming and good-looking. “Heh. I guess that’s why we have so much in common, huh, Ino?”

“Yeah...” agreed Ino with a pleasant laugh, thinking about how much Naruto’s manner of smirking and ready bragging reminded her strongly of herself. _So I guess this is what it would have been like to have had a younger brother._

The amused grin unexpectedly slipped off her face. _What an odd thing to think in the middle of a..._

Naruto, meanwhile, was suddenly sporting a puzzled expression. “But Ino... when you think about it, Kakashi doesn’t really act the way you said a Libra is supposed to.”

“Huh? Well, no, he wouldn’t - he’s got a different star sign. It’s Virgo,” she explained. “According to myth it represents the ‘wielder of justice’ - which is why those two constellations are right next to each other: the judge partnered with the scales. Anyway, Virgos are supposed to be modest, practical, reliable and intellectual... not to mention emotionally cool and harsh.”

“Hmm... I guess that does sound a lot more like Kakashi,” admitted Naruto. “But his birthday is hardly over a week before yours. Why isn’t he a Libra?”

“The zodiac months are irregular, so the Libra period actually starts on the 23rd - my birthday. And Virgo ends on the 22nd.” Ino smiled wistfully as a stray thought popped into her head. “Incidentally, that also happens to be Shikamaru’s birthday. He’s a Virgo, too.”

“That slacker was born one day before you? Wow, I didn’t know that.” Naruto stroked his chin thoughtfully, comically exaggerating the fox whiskers. “And both your birthdays just happen to fall on the division between those two signs... huh. You know, that’s a funny kind of coincidence, isn’t it? You being partnered teammates and all...” He broke into a wide smirk as a light dawned on him. “Ha! That’s just like what you said, Ino - it’s almost like it really _was_ written in the stars!”

While Naruto burst into laughter, Ino underwent a frightening series of palpitations as tremors began in the pit of her stomach and her heart raced wildly. She ran her hands unsteadily over heated cheeks, at a loss to understand what had set this reaction off. It was as she said - she normally _didn’t_ take this kind of thing that seriously, but... 

Ino took a deep breath, struggling to calm her heartbeat. There were many odd little connections between her and Shikamaru that had in the beginning caused much tension between them, such as inheriting their fathers’ legacy and their own _jutsu_ compatibility. In those days Ino, who in moments of high stress was given towards dramatic flights of fancy, was absolutely convinced that it was a conspiracy of cosmic proportions that had left her partnered with Shikamaru. Or (as she tried unsuccessfully to explain to her flummoxed father and exasperated mother) why else couldn’t she escape from being bound for the rest of her ninja career to such an unpromising, unmotivated _loser_? It had taken some time before Ino eventually came to accept that, as Inoichi had always insisted, nothing more sinister than strategic convenience was to blame for choosing her teammates; for better or for worse, she was stuck. This was not a particularly happy or romantic realization. But at least it didn’t leave Ino seething at the rank injustice of believing herself to be at the mercy of forces beyond her control.

So why did the suggestion that there was something ‘more’ to the bond between her and Shikamaru leave her feeling so shockingly weak-kneed _now_? And why was she even taking this to heart? Naruto couldn’t know about all their history together, and knew nothing at all about myths or symbols, yet he had pointed out something she had never connected before. But the idea was so unnerving, not to mention absurd - and it was _Shikamaru_ , for Heaven’s sake! Her often-annoyed, always sarcastic, hard-to-read teammate whom Ino knew had also never wanted to be stuck protecting her... why, he’d roll his eyes and snidely deride such a ridiculous assertion...

Besides, she already knew he held her opinions in very low esteem.

Instead of calming down, Ino felt a particularly painful twinge in her chest. She tried to distract herself by bending down to pluck a stray wild flower that was growing at the path’s edge, waiting for an opening to redirect the conversation whenever Naruto finally stopped laughing.

\----------

Haruno Sakura was in a snit.

She was hiding in a clump of bushes across the canal from Naruto and Ino, growing angrier with each passing minute. She had long since stopped paying close attention to their conversation - it was just tedious gardener’s talk - but it was made all the more aggravating by the attentiveness each paid the other. Who did they think they were kidding? Since when was watering flowers so blasted fascinating? Sakura felt the nerve in her forehead throbbing anew as she watched Ino mincing around in the grass, obviously trying to show off her assets to Naruto. For crying out loud - did she have _no_ scruples whatsoever?

For the life of her, Sakura couldn’t fathom how things had gone so horribly awry. Especially when everything had made such perfect sense only yesterday morning. So Ino’s enormous ego had finally taken a beating... well, it was long overdue, and it was hardly anything that a little dose of flattery wouldn’t take care of. And wasn’t that the only thing Ino had ever really required out of her male admirers? _Of course_ it was, and Sakura should know - she had been Ino’s best friend for years, and she was certain that no one else in Konoha knew Ino half so well as she did. They had a history. Perhaps even too much.

Thinking about this, a bitter sense of ill-usage filled Sakura. Given everything they’d gone through together, how could Ino treat her this way? What kind of so-called ‘best friend’ would turn around and do something this... this heartless, this _mercenary_ , by putting on that big show in front of poor Naruto? 

_Go tell all of Konoha that Yamanaka Ino is going out with Uzumaki Naruto!_

As _if_. And after everything Sakura had (quite obviously) misguidedly done to help her! Hadn’t she been the sympathetic listener when she found Ino moping in her store? Didn’t she do all that legwork just trying to get to the real root of Ino’s problem? Wasn’t she the one who had all but _begged_ Naruto to ask Ino out? And now...

Damn it all! This was just supposed to be a _pity date_ , for crying out loud!

Sakura grimaced as her conscience pricked her sharply. She had no love for Ami and had been itching to punch her into the atmosphere during the scene in the market, if only such an action wouldn’t have been such a dead give away to her and Shikamaru’s presence. But now a blood-thirsty internal voice was repeating many of the same harsh accusations against Ino, leaving Sakura feeling both ugly for thinking them yet perversely in sympathy with that brunette witch. It was clear that Yamanaka was sinking her claws into Naruto. What had Sakura been thinking, getting the gullible fool mixed up with a rapacious man-eater like _that_?

Grinding her teeth at the sight of Ino giving Naruto a flower, Sakura wrenched her gaze away to look back over her shoulder. She desperately needed to vent some of her wrath - so who better to serve as her personal punching bag than Ino’s very own teammate? But one look at his face gave her pause. True, even on a good day Shikamaru wasn’t exactly a ray of sunshine, but she’d never seen him so gloomy and sullen. Abandoning that idea, Sakura turned her attention back on the scene before her. Soon she was mindlessly tearing large strips of grass from the ground, imagining them to be locks of long, blonde hair.

_Toying with Naruto’s heart just because you’re desperate, only to wind up hurting him when you inevitably get bored and move on. I’ll never forgive you for this one..._

**_Ino-pig!_ **

\----------

“Hey... are you supposed to be doing that?” 

Naruto watched Ino listlessly arranging a handful of wild flowers she had plucked from the embankment. He could tell from her demeanor that something was wrong again, which was becoming both perplexing and wearisome. Why did she keep going from happy and energetic in one minute to melancholy and dull the next? Hadn’t they just been having a good conversation? A frown crossed Naruto’s face and then he gave a tiny sigh. Geez, it was hard work trying to figure Ino out... way harder than getting Sakura. Then again, it wasn’t hard to guess what his teammate was thinking whenever she helpfully pounded him.

Ino paused to examine her makeshift bouquet and shrugged indifferently. “Probably not. But I couldn’t help myself,” she murmured as she held the arrangement up towards Naruto. “This is my favorite flower.” 

“It’s pretty,” remarked Naruto as he took a seat on the ground next to her. “What’s it called?”

“Cosmos – the birth flower of September. In the language of flowers it means

 _harmony_ ,” answered Ino drily, thinking how ill-suited that description was to her life right now.

“Er... does everything have a hidden meaning with you?” wondered Naruto. It was something that he had begun to notice throughout their date. Perhaps this was part of what he found so confusing about Ino - he did much better understanding things that were plainly on the surface.

Ino pondered his words. Perhaps it did seem like a paradoxical aspect of her personality. She was fundamentally a candid person and enjoyed openness in herself and others, but even with her brash manner, she nevertheless had a practical appreciation for subtlety too. Part of this was rooted in a mixture of Yamanaka espionage training and something more she had inherited from her parents, especially Inoichi’s analytical ability. She would never have been much of a spy were she unable to accurately ‘read’ the many veiled nuances of a situation and react accordingly. It was an unteachable skill that was the downfall of many other _kunoichi_ hopefuls, yet it was second nature to her.

But the other half of the reason was purely emotional.

“Well, maybe I do have a tendency to search for something extra... at least for certain things. I can’t really help it,” she admitted. Then an unusually shy smile touched Ino’s face as she gazed dreamily up at the clouds. “I guess it’s mostly because I’ve always found it terribly romantic to know that there can be a secret meaning behind any given thing, a way of communicating deeply with another person without having to share your feelings with the rest of the world. So a flower can say _I love you_... a gesture can mean _I’m sorry_... just knowing you have that kind of an understanding with someone makes a bond so much stronger. It’s uniquely special, a secret shared just between the two of you... something deeper that connects you beyond the surface - almost like a _spiritual_ pact. It just makes everything feel so much more meaningful that way.”

Silence fell between them, leaving Ino feeling self-conscience, wondering if she had said too much. She could see Naruto fiddling with his boutonniere out of the corner of her eye, appearing unusually solemn. She hastily cleared her throat.

“ _Anyway_... it was my mother who taught me all about the cosmos. And about flowers in general, along with their hidden meanings. Everything I know is largely thanks to her.”

“Your mom taught you that, huh?” murmured Naruto, dropping his hand from his lapel. “That’s cool.”

“Yeah, she’s a true genius when it comes to anything involving flowers... she’s the main reason why our flower shop is so popular,” stated Ino with real pride. A warm glow lifted her spirits as she reflected happily on her family’s success and stature in the village. “Hey, Naruto, do you ever think about your parents?” she asked suddenly.

A dreadful feeling overcame Ino as soon as she realized what she had said. That question had been entirely impulsive - the old boundaries with Naruto had dropped away and she hadn’t been thinking. But she could tell by his expression that he wasn’t angry with her. It was worse than that, as his countenance had become indescribably haunted and lonely. Ino blushed with shame and drew breath to apologize, but Naruto began to speak:

“Yes... and no,” he said quietly. It was hard for Naruto to adequately explain his feelings, as the issue of his unknown family had always been an unhealing wound to his heart. “Whenever I try to imagine them, I draw a complete blank. I don’t have any pictures of them. I don’t even know their names. I have no idea at all who they were - no one’s ever told me anything about them. Not one thing.”

Ino stared blankly at Naruto, finding it hard to comprehend what he had just told her. She briefly tried to imagine what it would have been like to grow up never knowing her parents... no flower shop... no mind-transfer _jutsus_... and no one willing to admit even the memory of their existence. Her mind boggled, unable to grasp such a reality.

By the Fourth - why had this happened? Had they been such unspeakable criminals? If so, the mystery surrounding Naruto’s dubious status in the village would finally start to make a lot of sense... but then why should Naruto have to bear the brunt of his parent’s transgressions? No matter who they had been, didn’t he have a right to at least know their _names_? Ino clenched her fist around the bouquet, trembling with anger. This was so outrageously _unfair_.

“Well _I_ can tell you something about your parents, Naruto!” cried Ino hotly as she emphatically pointed at the startled boy. “You’ve probably got the same spiky blond hair as your father... and the same big blue eyes as your mother... and his cheeky grin... and her warm laugh... heck, you’re probably their spitting image.” Withdrawing her finger, Ino looked appraisingly at Naruto. Then in a gesture reminiscent of Mrs. Yamanaka, she reached over and tucked a cosmos into his lapel, next to the boutonniere, and gave it a firm pat. “But more than that, you must be their legacy on the inside. In fact, I’ll bet they were both really good people: friendly, kind-hearted and caring. You inherit a lot from your parents, you know.”

The pain inside Naruto’s heart lessened, supplanted by a hopeful feeling he had never experienced before in relation to his parents. He had always secretly believed that they were honorable people, though he’d never had proof one way or the other. It was an immense relief to hear someone else say it, too, even though he knew that Ino likewise had no idea what she was talking about. 

But sometimes it really was the thought that counted most.

Out of habit, Naruto looked up over at the towering faces of Mt. Hokage, his gaze falling on the solemn visage of the Fourth. _I really hope I am just like my father_ , he thought as a pleased, goofy grin spread across his face. Glancing towards Ino, he noticed that she was again picking thoughtfully at the remains of her bouquet. _And I’ll bet my mother was a lot like you._

For a moment Naruto felt strange. Although heartfelt, that wasn’t exactly the kind of thing a guy was supposed to think during a date, was it?

The weirdness passed. Looking down, Naruto fingered the cosmos Ino had given him. He was surprised to note the way it effortlessly complemented Sakura’s boutonniere. “It’s a good flower for you, Ino,” he remarked suddenly. “You know how to harmonize well with a lot of things when you want to, don’t you?”

Ino raised a skeptical brow, unable to believe that she was capable of ‘harmonizing’ with anything in her presently out-of-whack life. But the idea cheered her immensely. “Hmm... I guess the same thing goes for you, Naruto,” she responded pleasantly. Then Ino smiled. 

_For people... and for situations._

\----------

Across the canal hidden in a shadowy clump of bushes, Nara Shikamaru crouched in total misery.

He was trying hard not to show it, but it was a battle he was slowly losing. Each light-hearted laugh, every teasing smile... the tilt of her head, the shine in her eyes... the way she leaned forward, listening so intently to everything that was being said... All of it was feeding the ever-deepening pout on Shikamaru’s face. It was agony to witness. He’d long since yanked out the ear buds to avoid listening to what was passing between them - he could spare himself that much pain. And yet he just couldn’t bring himself to stop _watching_.

It would probably be a really good idea to leave right now.

The urge had a certain undeniable appeal that grew with each passing moment, but Shikamaru remained rooted to the spot. It was ironic, especially since escaping would have been so easy. He’d developed an expertise at evasion over the years; heck, he was (albeit somewhat disreputably) well-known for it. And he’d had innumerable opportunities to hone his skills, particularly in the last year. Looking the other way while Ino made cow-eyes at some new guy, ignoring her gushing prattle about her crush’s alleged merits, slipping off whenever she made a not-so-subtle play for the idiot’s affections... Yes, thanks to Ino, Shikamaru had become a true escape artist.

So why was he torturing himself by sticking around?

In the past Shikamaru had always told himself that the discomfort he periodically experienced in Ino’s presence was nothing more than annoyance at her strangely troublesome ways. And whenever he experienced a confusing moment that tempted him to second-guess this belief, Shikamaru only had to remind himself of the pitiless realities that dictated the mysterious whims of lovesick girls. Ino had been his teacher in this as well, with her ceaseless and unabashed adulation of Sasuke, and her dismissive attitude towards anything that fell short of her ideal. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why Shikamaru spared no one his frank honesty, particularly himself: it kept you from making a jackass of yourself, pointlessly striving for something impossible to attain. Facing the unvarnished truth kept you grounded in reality - and it shored up the walls around a secretly vulnerable heart.

But truth was a brutal friend and capable of unexpected cruelty. It wouldn’t allow you to lie to yourself forever... not without paying the consequences. And Shikamaru knew now that he had been deceiving himself for a very long time. It didn’t matter so much as he once believed it ought that Ino was in the same mold of demanding females akin to his mother, or that her faults were many, or that she didn’t come close to fitting his own purported ‘average gal’ ideal. Shikamaru’s eyes were finally open: he’d always thought that Ino exemplified everything he’d ever wanted to change about troublesome women... but all along, he had just wanted _her_.

Ino, in turn, had always wanted someone else. 

_Always_.

The hollowness inside Shikamaru’s chest just seemed to keep on growing with every passing minute, and he wished fervently that there was a way to make it stop. Why did he have to feel this way? What was the point in having a heart if it could make you so damn weak, so utterly helpless? Curse those ignorant, insensitive fools who blathered idiotically about the joys of falling head over heels for someone. If _this_ was what it was like to be in love... it sucked. Completely.

And it was a frightening thing.


	14. Taken For A Ride

“...and that’s what happened, Iruka. So now I have a date with a girl who probably doesn’t even like me and the girl that _I_ like...” Naruto’s voice trailed off as his face fell into a weak smile. “Well anyway... I just wondered if, you know, you had any ideas about what I should do. About taking Ino out, I mean.”

Finishing his tale, Naruto looked hopefully at the older _chuunin_. If anyone in Konoha could give him some dating advice that was actually helpful (i.e. non-perverted), it would be this man. But instead of the desired relief, his heart sank even further: Iruka was gazing at him solemnly, a worried expression on his face. 

“Naruto... are you _really_ sure you want to go through with this? You know you shouldn’t have to go out with someone if you don’t want to.”

Naruto’s eyes merely widened in bafflement. “But I already told Ino I’d pick her up tomorrow afternoon - I can’t back out of something like that now! It’d be like breaking a promise!” he cried. “And besides that... Sakura really wanted me to do this.“

“So you’re saying this is all for Sakura?” Iruka’s frown became more pronounced. “And... it’s _okay_ that she wants you to go out with her best friend?”

At his words a familiar, dull ache sprang up in Naruto’s chest. Unbidden memories of Sasuke flitted through his mind, conjuring in turn a vision of Sakura, teary-eyed and begging with all her might. Naruto bowed his head and stared at the ground. Why did it hurt to smile all of a sudden?

“It’s like this, Iruka...,” he said softly. “I just can’t stand to disappoint her.”

For a minute nothing more was said. Naruto listened to Iruka shifting around on his chair, wondering if his former teacher could understand what was too hard to say aloud. Then he heard Iruka slowly stand up and draw close. 

“Okay, Naruto. I see how it is,” said Iruka quietly. He gave his former pupil’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze, causing Naruto to lift his head up gratefully. “And since it’s that kind of a situation, I’ll do what I can to help you.”

“All right! You’re the best, Master Iruka!” whooped Naruto, relief pouring through him. He pumped his fists in excited determination. “Just tell me what I need to do, and I’ll get it done - believe it!”

But Iruka’s smile was faint as he leaned back against the desk. He rubbed his chin in a heavy manner, staring out at the empty classroom. “So tell me - what would be the best outcome for this date you’re going on? What would you like to have happen when all is said and done?”

Naruto’s whiskers drooped in a puzzled manner. Did it really matter what _he_ wanted on this date? “Gee, I dunno... I guess I’d like to make Ino happy so that she doesn’t regret going out with me,” he finally answered, scratching his head. Then he smiled sheepishly. “And I have to do a really good job so that Sakura will be pleased, too.”

Falling into teacher mode, Iruka began habitually pacing around the desk, deep in thought. “Hmm... so all you want is to make a good impression. On Ino and...” He stopped abruptly, his voice taking on a peculiar quality. “On _Sakura_.” 

Naruto tilted his head curiously as Iruka swung around to face him - there was something odd about the gleam in his former teacher’s eyes. He couldn’t help narrowing his own in suspicion, but the fleeting look was gone and Iruka seemed back to his usual cheery self.

“Well, if you want to make a good impression on your date, you’ll have to put some real effort into it. You need to think about her interests, listen to what she says, pay attention to her needs... do whatever it takes to leave Ino feeling _special_ ,” asserted Iruka with a resolute nod. “After all, you don’t just win a girl’s heart by letting things happen!”

Naruto cocked a brow in alarm. “But I don’t want to win Ino’s -”

“Never mind - I was just, uh, speaking metaphorically,” interrupted Iruka hastily. Then before Naruto could ask what that meant, he segued into lecture mode. “Now you listen closely. When it comes to matters of the heart, every young _shinobi_ needs to understand that love and war are actually very similar things.” 

“Love... and _war_?” repeated Naruto, feeling both utterly mystified yet strangely intrigued. “So how does that work?”

Iruka grinned at the expression of rapt attention on his pupil’s face.

“Allow me to instruct you on the secret art of... _combat dating_.”

_\----------_

_Love sure is strange_ , reflected Naruto.

Relaxing on the bank next to Ino, he silently assessed that afternoon’s events, comparing them with the hoped-for scenario he had worked out after his ‘lesson’ with Iruka. As far as he could tell, everything was going well; heck, far better than he’d ever expected. The near disasters had been adverted, Ino seemed (mostly) happy, and he was even enjoying himself. It had turned out great for a first date after all - except for one thing.

Sakura wasn’t here.

Naruto sighed, wondering why that particular detail was marring an otherwise idyllic moment, especially given that he’d experienced so few of these in his life. And besides, hadn’t his main objective been achieved? He was positive that Sakura would be completely satisfied when she found out about all this, as more than likely Ino would fill her best friend in on all the details afterwards.

Though that thought alone made what was coming next all the more awkward.

Last night while stressing over the date’s agenda, Naruto had been watering a relative of Mr. Ukki’s when inspiration hit. In spite of Choji’s help, he’d been at a complete loss for coming up with an activity that would appeal to Ino - did that girl have any hobbies aside from chasing boys? But as he watched the water sprinkling down in a gentle cascade, a memory jogged his brain and he hit on Ino’s interest in flowers. Now _there_ was something Naruto had always wanted to show someone else... if only the circumstances were ever right. He had been hoping that it would be with Sakura, but he knew better than to even try asking. She’d punch him into the sky before he had a chance to explain once she found out where they were going.

Naturally, he’d immediately had second thoughts, given the likelihood that Ino wasn’t necessarily going to be any happier than Sakura when she saw where Naruto was taking her. But desperation and the fact that they would first be walking around in the Hokage’s gardens kept him from dismissing the idea outright. In the end he decided that he would simply let Ino’s mood be his guide before choosing to proceed or to just abandon the plan. Regardless, he knew it was going to be risky.

But that was last night, and today much had changed. He felt so comfortable and unguarded with Ino that there was no longer any worry about how she might react to this. Naruto always had a sixth sense for knowing people, and somehow he knew that whatever he did, he could get her to understand his true intentions.

Besides, he _had_ no intentions.

_Maybe that’s what’s so weird about all this_ , mussed Naruto. Something about the way Iruka was talking last night had caused him to harbor some vague doubts as to what was actually going to happen on this date. And sure enough, an unexpected thing _had_ happened. He realized that he had been wrong about Ino, and now that he’d gotten to know her a little better, he found that he really liked her a lot and even felt strangely drawn to her...

But it just wasn’t the same way he felt about Sakura. 

And that was perfectly fine. Naruto wondered if this was what Iruka had in mind all along: getting him to see that he could enjoy another girl’s company as much as he did his teammate’s, in a fun, casual, non-romantic way. What was even more surprising was how becoming friends with another girl also was making him feel better about himself. It even took away some of the sting of Sakura’s continuing indifference... just a little.

Glancing sideways at Ino, Naruto felt a serene boost of confidence. He would be sure to thank Iruka properly tomorrow. For now, it was time to start wrapping up this date with style. _Yeah, I guess it’s time I finally took her there._

Naruto stood up and brushed off his pants. Then holding out his hand to Ino, he flashed a mischievous grin.

“Hey... you ready to see something really cool?”

\----------

Back across the canal, Shikamaru and Sakura were again flitting through the think underbrush, carefully shadowing Ino and Naruto, who had resumed strolling arm-in-arm down the towpath. Both by this point were in an openly foul mood, though Sakura especially was having a hard time biting her tongue. She could feel the nerve in her forehead pulsing violently each time Ino leaned in to murmur some inane comment in Naruto’s ear. Provoked by the sound of her teammate’s hearty laughter, Sakura finally reached her limit.

“What _gives_?” she burst out in an overly-loud whisper, drawing an annoyed glare from Shikamaru. Ignoring him, Sakura gestured angrily at the oblivious couple. “They’ve been babbling almost non-stop for over an hour now - but they don’t have anything in common!”

Scowling darkly, Shikamaru turned away to resume watching the pair. He narrowed his eyes. “...Yes, they do. They’re both _loud_ ,” he finally muttered, feeling particularly uncharitable as he listened to the incessant chatter drifting across the water. How typical of Ino to run off at the mouth and say whatever came to mind, no matter how it made _him_ feel.

“And annoying!” added Sakura, relieved to at last have an outlet for her ire. She thought angrily about all the times Naruto had done something tactless and embarrassed her. “So incredibly obnoxious!”

“And utterly clueless,” grumbled Shikamaru, thinking about the unpleasant fight in Ino’s bedroom. Why didn’t she ever stop to listen and _think_ before pig-headedly jumping to the wrong conclusions?

“Not to mention completely _reckless_!” fumed Sakura, remembering Naruto’s scandalous actions in the market. Why did he always insist on making such a dramatic scene wherever he went?

“Che... you know what the _real_ problem is?” said Shikamaru suddenly, his anger fully stoked. To Sakura’s bewilderment, he aimed a wink at Ino’s back. “The reason they’ve got so much in common is because they’re both a couple of _dumb blonds_!”

Sakura clapped a hand over her mouth, trying to stifle the snort of laughter that threatened to break out. Shikamaru chuckled darkly, but his empty smirk soon faded. He didn’t feel like laughing at all. Sakura likewise quickly fell quiet. Crossing her arms defensively, she let out an angry sniff.

“That wasn’t very nice, Shikamaru,” she said stiffly.

“It didn’t stop you from laughing, Sakura,” he muttered dryly.

Looking away from each other, both resumed their silent pursuit, though their mood had grown much more somber if no less disturbed. Shikamaru grimaced, chastened by a humbling realization. He could make all the snide comments he wanted, but without any conscious effort on their part, Ino and Naruto certainly had him and Sakura scurrying along in their wake like trained pets.

_And we’re supposed to be the smart ones_ , he thought bitterly.

\----------

For the second time that day, Ino found herself staring up at an ornate sign printed in foreign lettering. This time, however, she felt her cheeks start to color when she registered their meaning. Dropping Naruto’s arm hastily, she threw him a startled look, but he merely grinned at her. She glanced uncertainly back up at the sign.

_Welcome to Konohagakure Garden’s_

_Tunnel of Love_

“Well, here we are,” announced Naruto calmly, apparently oblivious to his companion's agitation. “Shall we go inside?”

Ino faltered. She instantly recalled the reckless words she’d yelled at Ami in the market and felt chagrined. What had Naruto thought about that? After all the sweet things he’d done for her today, wasn’t it likely that he might now be expecting something more from her? Anxiety filled Ino’s heart as her feelings became clear. She was exceedingly grateful to Naruto for asking her out on this date - it had been wonderful. And she had been terribly wrong about him in many ways. She also liked him too, far more than she had ever expected, and had even come to feel an odd kind of kinship with him.

But Ino also knew that she did not want to be more than friends.

_How ironic_ , she thought, recalling her mother’s advice. Ino hadn’t really bought into the idea that there was such a thing as a platonic date - but now she knew she’d been wrong. Another disquieting thing was finally realizing that she had been missing out on much by concentrating only on landing a boyfriend, and not bothering to discover what simple male friendship had to offer. It brought fresh insight into the way she usually interacted with her teammates. Could she fairly say that she had always been understanding or supportive of Choji _off_ the battlefield? And as for Shikamaru…

The strange, fluttery feeling came back, leaving Ino momentarily confused. Funny, that was something she was _still_ at a loss to define.

Sighing regretfully, Ino dropped her gaze from the sign and looked down at the ground. She did not wish to spoil the mood or reverse the ground she'd gained with Naruto, but she had no intention of leading him on. Searching for a way to gently let him down, she was surprised when she heard him begin laughing sheepishly. She glanced up curiously.

"I know it’s a kid’s ride, Ino, but I thought you might like to go on it with me anyway," explained Naruto as he self-consciously scratched his chin. "If you want to, that is."

Ino blinked, her thoughts scattering wildly as she stared blankly at him. Then her eyes narrowed as a sneaking suspicion hit her. “Naruto... do you know what that sign says?”

“Nope," he replied with a casual shrug. "Should I?”

"Um… why are you taking me in here?" she persisted, finding this situation hard to understand.

"Well… there’s something inside that I think you’d really like to see. But I'd kind of like it to be a surprise - if you'll trust me." His embarrassed smile morphed into a hopeful one. "So… do you want to?"

_Honestly, Naruto!_ thought Ino as she bit back a laugh. Aside from the obvious, what could be so interesting about entering a cave? But she knew he wasn't feeding her a line - and only _he_ could believe that this attraction was meant for children. Her curiosity rekindled, Ino reached out and gamely placed her hand in his. 

\----------

On the opposite bank there was a rustling of branches as Sakura and Shikamaru stood up from the undergrowth, momentarily forgetting themselves. They watched in tense silence as Naruto paid the ticket vendor while Ino stood behind him, giggling like a school girl.

Shielding her eyes with her hand, Sakura peered intently at the tunnel’s entrance. “Er, Shikamaru, does that sign really say what I think it does...?”

“It does,” he said shortly.

“B-but... they’re not _really_ going in there... are they?” she stammered in stunned disbelief.

“They are,” growled Shikamaru through gritted teeth. He watched Naruto guide Ino into the waiting boat and hop in eagerly after her. Then the ugly ache in his chest reached a new crescendo of pain on seeing them grinning impishly at each other as they began floating towards the tunnel entrance. Oh, what he wouldn’t give _now_ to have accepted Naruto’s ‘offer’ yesterday and given that smug twerp one good -

“A deal, Shikamaru,” said Sakura suddenly, breaking his chain of thought. He looked over and saw that she too was glowering darkly at the disappearing pair. “First chance you get… you grab _your_ dumb blonde, and I’ll grab _mine_!”


	15. Tunnel Vision, Part I

Outside the cave, a courting couple was cheerfully disembarking from a boat when they were suddenly distracted by a loud rustling sound coming from the bushes almost directly behind them. Turning with alarm, they were treated to the sight of two angry-looking teenagers bursting out of the shrubbery and leaping across the canal, landing on the towpath nearby. Though startling, this was not such an unusual occurrence in a ninja village, where training exercises had a habit of crossing into everyday life. What was truly alarming were the expressions on the teens’ faces. They stared openly as the pink-haired girl, fists balled and eyes flashing, stood up and went storming past them. Then their attention was drawn to the brunet boy skulking behind with his hands jammed in his pockets, his face conveying his extreme annoyance.

“Goodness,” remarked the woman to her companion in a loud whisper. “What a scary, uncute pair!”

Shikamaru halted, shooting the couple an icy look. For one wild moment he considered chucking civility and doing something gratifyingly ‘uncute’ by flipping them the bird... but then Sakura was back again, yanking at his arm.

“Come on - hurry and pay up! He's waiting!” she hissed.

“Huh?” Shikamaru peered over Sakura’s head at the ride operator, spotting the till next to him. He raised a brow in confusion. “Why do _I_ have to pay?”

“For something like _this_?” She threw Shikamaru a look as if he was crazy. “The guy is supposed to pay!”

His face fell into a put-upon pout. “Che... can't we just go dutch?”

“Honestly, Shikamaru - you're such a _cheap date_ ,” snapped Sakura, glaring at him in disgust.

_Can anyone blame me?_ thought Shikamaru sourly as he began digging for his wallet.

\----------

_This is so cool_ , thought Naruto, grinning with enthusiasm more suited to a schoolboy than a _shinobi_. While the boat floated leisurely along in the slow-moving current, he eagerly peered around the dimly-lit cavern, trying to make out any detail on the craggy walls. But although the sparse lighting cast interesting shadows, and the sound of dripping water lent a certain eerie atmosphere, there was little to actually see or hear. After a few uneventful minutes, it struck Naruto that this was strangely one-dimensional for a kid’s ride - shouldn’t something interesting have happened by now? Settling back in his seat, his eyes ran over the prow. Too bad it was shaped like a swan - he’d have preferred one shaped like a frog. Then he scratched his head. Come to think of it, had there been any boats shaped into an animal other than a swan? Yet another shortcoming. Now Naruto began to frown in earnest puzzlement. _Geez, what the heck kind of weird attraction was this supposed to be anyway? You’d think it was designed more for boring adults than for kids!_

Well, no matter. The ride itself was never their goal in the first place. It was just a lucky coincidence that it happened to run through his secret destination.

Naruto smirked at the memory. He’d accidentally discovered the spot several years ago, in the aftermath of a prank on the ANBU headquarters. He was having difficulty escaping the hot pursuit of several angry _jounin_ and out of desperation tried detouring through the gardens, hoping to lose himself in the crowds. Instead he wound up getting lost himself, and it was just as he was about to be cornered that it happened. He fell through a crack in the earth... and landed right on top of a teenage couple sitting in a boat.

It was a great shock for everyone involved. Not to mention a lucky break for Naruto, as it turned out that the girl in the boat was the daughter of the pursuit’s leader, and he immediately became upset with them, particularly with her male companion. Naruto had found this reaction highly peculiar - what was the big deal about going on a boat ride? - but he knew better than to stick around. Whatever the reason for the fuss, it certainly had distracted his pursuers enough to leave off their chase.

Still, it was a shame that he hadn’t the time to do any exploration that day. He’d only had the briefest glance about the place before sneaking off, but it had left a lingering impression nonetheless. Even back then some dormant part of his brain had understood that this was the kind of place you wanted to share with someone else, too, one day.

Naruto sighed wistfully, again thinking how doubtful it was that he’d ever be able to convince Sakura to come in here alone with him. Now fixating on his favorite girl, his smile unknowingly became slightly wolfish. It was odd how the cave’s intimate lighting and the boat’s coziness was putting him in the mood for something else. Okay, so maybe Sakura _did_ have a point: showing her the secret spot wouldn’t be the first thing on his mind...

With a guilty start, Naruto suddenly realized that he’d completely forgotten about his date. Glancing over at Ino, he breathed a sigh of relief: she was quietly leaning back in her seat with half-closed eyes, obviously lost in her own thoughts. Gladdened that he hadn’t annoyed her with his inattentiveness, Naruto relaxed again, his mind once more drawn back to his favorite fantasies.

_Wish you were here, too, Sakura._

\----------

_Naruto, you fool. Why am I following you into a place like this?_

Sakura sighed deeply as she shifted her weight in the boat. _This could be so romantic_ , she thought sorrowfully while she eyed the faintly glimmering walls, appreciating the soothing mood they created. _It’s exactly the kind of thing I’ve always wanted to do with someone special._ Piqued at the injustice, she scowled furiously. _So why in blazes do I have to be stuck with_ ** _him_** _?_

‘He’ in turn was slouching low in the seat next to her, his arms crossed defensively as he examined their surroundings. Sakura spared him a withering glance, then gave a start: Shikamaru was starting to appear vaguely sinister in the darkness. It had to be her imagination, but she could almost swear that the shadows inside the boat were coming to life around him. Spooked, she discreetly slid further away and occupied herself by attempting to eavesdrop further on Naruto and Ino.

The ear buds, however, failed to transmit any conversation between the two blond lovebirds, and uncertain as to how she ought to interpret the continuing silence, Sakura’s nerves began to eat away at her again. Forcing herself to calm down, she tried to conjure up a favorite old fantasy. There she was, Haruno Sakura, class brain and reformed wallflower, out on a date with Uchiha Sasuke, the boy of her dreams. She had it all planned out in her head: one glorious day, he would come pick her up at home, where for once her overbearing mother would be left speechless with delight at the remarkable catch her daughter had made. Then the two would leave for a romantic, intimate evening together. First they would have dinner, where she would dazzle him with her keen wit and sparkling conversation. Next they would do something fun, like go dancing, followed by a quiet moonlit stroll through a park. And there under the blanket of stars when no one else was around, he would smile seductively at her and pull her into his arms, and then she would gaze longingly into his beautiful blue eyes and say at long last, “Naruto, I think I lo-”

Sakura’s eyes flew open and she shot upright in her seat, clutching at her madly thumping heart. _What the_ ** _hell_** _was that all about?!?_

“Don’t rock the boat,” hissed Shikamaru’s voice out of the dark.

Sakura said nothing. The strange feeling of confusion that she’d experienced when Naruto had first informed her about his date with Ino was back. She took several deep breaths, trying to slow down her heart rate, but her body felt shaky and she had a claustrophobic sense that the cavern walls were about to fall in on her - where was this panicked feeling coming from anyway? And why was it centering on _Naruto_? 

Inexplicable guilt plagued Sakura as her troubled mind began to mull. Why would she suddenly think of Naruto when it was Sasuke who had her heart? Even though she knew he’d cut off all ties to the Leaf in his vendetta against his brother, had joined with someone like Orochimaru and turned his back on Naruto and on her, and even after having faced him as a deadly opponent on the field of battle since, there yet remained a tiny flame of hope that still burned for him. Yes, no matter what had happened, Sasuke was still her one and only. He was the root of that ‘one thing’ Tsunade had spoken about that gave her the drive to become the medical ninja she was today, and the goal of the pact she had made between Naruto. Her love for Sasuke was simply... _everything_. So much so that there were times, when she was feeling low and lost in the desolate hours of the night, that she would secretly stare at his picture and wonder if her suffering would ever end. Would she at last find true happiness on the day that he returned to them - or just be more relieved that it was finally over?

Her heart contracted, and Sakura felt angry with herself for thinking such a thing. She would be happy, of course: everything that she’d longed for and toiled after would finally come to pass. Naruto would have his brother, and she her beloved... because Sasuke would finally have to acknowledge their bond. Her love had remained faithful and enduring throughout every trial - wouldn’t he see that no one else’s feelings could ever compare? And she was more mature now, stronger and wiser and worthy of standing next to him in whatever endeavor he should choose to face. His eyes would be opened to the truth: here was the girl who was capable of making him happy, and then she too would become _his_ one and only at long last...

Again, Sakura experienced that disturbing feeling of relief rather than the anticipated elation. Uncomfortably disquieted, she began to reason with herself. It was only natural to have a bit of anxiety about these things, right? After all, three years’ separation was difficult for any pair of lovers, no matter how devoted they were. Time apart was supposed to be a good thing, wasn’t it? ‘ _Absence makes the heart grow fonder_ ’ - or at the very least, it had given her some perspective. And these feelings weren’t ones of doubt or hesitation; they were simply... _cautious_ , which was to be expected after everything that had happened. So perhaps her desire did not burn with the same all-consuming passion as when she was twelve, but nevertheless it was pure. It was still _real_.

Feeling wistful, Sakura began to reminisce. So many years of her life centered whole-heartedly on Sasuke - when had it all started? She thought back to her days at the academy, trying to pinpoint that magical moment when she’d known that he was The One - and then Ino’s face sprang up before her.

A wry grimace crossed Sakura’s face. _It figures_. It seemed that all her problems, then and now, went back to _that_ person. Yamanaka Ino, her alleged best friend. Flower of the ninja academy. Class queen bee. One-time savior.

_Rival_.

A feeling that was both aggressive and defensive immediately took hold as Sakura started to replay her memories of their personal history. She couldn’t help it; it had always been this way whenever Sasuke was involved. How strangely things had turned out between them...

During that miserable time when she had been a scared school misfit, Sakura had often wished desperately that things like fairy godmothers really existed. What she wouldn’t give to ditch the freakishly oversized cranium and the painful shyness, and transform herself into someone pretty and popular. Then all those brats who made fun of her would finally have to accept her, and she wouldn’t be so lonely anymore. And when Ino had appeared to offer her friendship, it was as if she had been granted her personal miracle. That someone _this_ awesomely cool and worldly would take Sakura under her wing and want to be friends with her - suddenly the impossible dream became reality, and something dormant inside woke up and began to grow.

They grew close rapidly; they became best friends in almost no time. And although Sakura knew she was viewed largely as Ino’s follower, it didn’t bother her. She was grateful to Ino, secure in her protection, and happy in their blossoming friendship. Moreover, she was learning a lot from Ino. Her friend’s astounding level of self-confidence alone provided its own daily lessons: _No one can hurt you unless you let them. No one likes someone who doesn’t like herself. Believe in yourself_. In time that once-dormant aspect of her personality began to assert itself, and Sakura no longer needed prompting from Ino to make her feelings known. She was becoming her own person, someone that other people responded to and enjoyed, and that she also liked very much...

And it was at this point, when Sakura was out of her shell and starting to see that the obstacles she’d once dreaded were no longer quite so fearsome, that she ‘discovered’ Uchiha Sasuke.

Of course she had known Sasuke since she had first entered the academy. Everyone knew he was an Uchiha, which was awe-inspiring of itself, but his bearing was so regal and aloof that from the first he seemed unapproachable. Sakura had noticed him as much as any of the other girls, but hers was a distant sort of admiration and she did not dwell on it. There were so many other things she had to worry about, and he was on a plane so far above hers that he didn’t even register. And it remained that way for years.

But everything had changed after Ino. Sakura couldn’t remember exactly when she began to entertain bolder thoughts of Sasuke, but she could vividly recall the incident that had galvanized her latent feelings. She was running late for her class on the second floor, not really paying attention to where she was going, when she crashed into him at the top of the stairs. Sasuke, just as surprised as she, had reached out automatically to keep her from falling backwards down the stairwell.

“Careful clumsy,” Sasuke reprimanded as he pulled her safely up next to him. “You shouldn’t run if you’re not looking where you’re going.”

Sakura’s mind had gone blank. She didn’t really hear the rebuke; she was instead too aware of the strength and swiftness he’d just demonstrated, and the absolutely sure manner in which it had been executed. Everything he did exuded confidence. And now this incredible boy was talking to her - he was actually being _nice_. Sakura swallowed hard, forcing her numb tongue to speak. “Um, t-thank you, Sasuke-kun. I didn’t mean to-”

But Sasuke had already turned away. “Don’t mention it,” he said casually over his shoulder as he entered the classroom, leaving Sakura feeling rather flustered... and yet strangely alive.

Things seemed to snowball from that point on. It was to Sakura as if she had unexpectedly discovered another version of Ino - someone so unbelievably cool that it was hard to believe their worlds intersected - but a _male_ one, who excited something deep inside her. She started to focus all her attention into observing Sasuke: studying his actions, learning his habits, searching for any clues as to what went on beneath that emotionless mask. And then it slowly happened: the more Sakura delved, the more entranced she became by the obstinate mystery that was Sasuke. She began to see that no one understood him quite the way she did, no one truly saw the real boy inside. Others only saw his face; _she_ perceived his soul. That all his cold brooding was covering for a wounded heart became clear, the troubling facets of his personality were actually noble virtues, and her feelings of tender compassion quickly magnified. Finally one day she realized that the excited, fluttery longings she experienced in his presence signified something uniquely special - it was _love_ , of course. It was almost like being in a fairy tale: she had magically fallen for a real prince, and she began to openly tell everyone about her affection for him. After all, there was no call to be shy about something as wonderful as true love. It was obvious that Sasuke and she were meant to be, some day.

But looking back on it, Sakura still couldn’t believe how blind she’d been about Ino.

On the day it happened, she had been talking with a fellow classmate about Sasuke. The other girl was admiring how Sakura’s hair had grown another inch, and Sakura wondered aloud what length would please him most, when she heard a mocking voice cut in.

“ _Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke_ ,” sang Ami from within the clique of girls she was always surrounded by. Sakura saw them giggle as Ami stepped out to face her. “You sound like a broken record, Haruno. What even makes you think Sasuke is ever going to notice you?”

Sakura felt anger, but like Ino she kept her cool. Gone were the days that she would let Ami talk down to her again. “Sasuke _will_ notice me one day. You’ll see,” she said confidently.

“Everyone should have a fantasy, Billboard Brow - even if it’s just a _pipe dream_ ,” replied Ami sneeringly. “But if Sasuke ever has an aneurysm that damages his brain enough to go out with you, I wonder how your piggy princess will take it?”

“... Ino?” Sakura blinked at the other girl, unable to comprehend her insinuation. “What do you mean?”

Ami threw her an incredulous, contemptuous look. “ _Duh!_ Because Ino likes Sasuke too, you retard! Sheesh, how _stupid_ can you be?” Then her lips curled cruelly. “So tell me, Haruno, do you still think that a dorky geek like you stands a chance with him - against _her_?”

It was like a veil had been ripped aside. _Ino likes Sasuke too._ Sakura had been stunned into silence, and Ami probably took that for tacit agreement, because she left Sakura alone afterwards. But Ami was only half-right in her conclusion; although Sakura’s mind had been thrown into turmoil, her heart was undergoing an unforeseen revolution.

But Ino couldn’t like him! She had never said a word, not even once - and Sakura had told her numerous times how much she liked Sasuke. No, it couldn’t be true! Ino wasn’t _allowed_ to like him. They both couldn’t want the same boy, because if she did, then...

They both couldn’t have him.

Her anxiety increased. The more Sakura considered it, the more certain she became that Ami had a point. That Ino was harboring a crush on Sasuke - well, that was understandable, seeing as how many of the other girls did too. But why had she kept so quiet? Sakura couldn’t understand that at all. Most likely Ino was probably just acting cool in the same way she behaved towards everything else, and for once instead of thinking this admirable behavior, Sakura found it weak and flakey. If Ino’s emotions were real, then she shouldn’t act so flippantly about them. What was more disturbing to Sakura, however, was Ami’s implication that there could be no other boy but Sasuke who could fit the role of Ino’s boyfriend. A prince for the princess... it made perfect sense. 

But Sakura couldn’t accept that. Why should Ino have the privilege, simply because she was the most popular girl in the class? What did Ino - or anyone else for that matter - know about Sasuke that Sakura didn’t? _She_ would love him more, and she was more worthy of him, because her desire was sincere and she would prove it... somehow. And as Sakura wrestled with these dark emotions, one dictum surged to the forefront of her mind, overpowering all other impulses: _Ino could not have Sasuke._

It was really as simple as that.

Yet Sakura felt torn. Ino was supposed to be her best friend - hadn’t she been the first one to reach out her hand when Sakura had needed it most? Hadn’t they become close confidants, sharing their secrets and laughter, their fears and dreams? So did she really have to choose between her friendship with Ino or her love for Sasuke now? 

And there Sakura had been given her answer: friendship versus love. Was there really any choice between which was better? Yes, Ino had once lifted her spirits. She had led her out of the darkness, had shown her the brighter side of living. But Sasuke was the sun compared to Ino’s candle; the inferno _he’d_ ignited had brought her to life. The powerful longing that had awakened inside of Sakura on that memorable day Sasuke had first noticed her reared up, and she at last acknowledged this painful truth: Ino might make her smile, but only Sasuke could make her happy.

In the end, that was that.

Sakura confronted Ino the very next day, though by that point it felt more like a pronouncement, or even an afterthought. The terms were non-negotiable; she had already closed her heart on her former friend, opening it further to Sasuke. Afterwards, she decisively rebuffed Ino’s initial attempts to mend the breach, and it quickly became common knowledge that the two formerly inseparable friends were no longer on speaking terms. Soon a mutual wall of animosity took root and began to grow.

If Sakura had the urge to repine, however, all she had to do to steel her resolve was to remind herself of her enemy’s many shortcomings, which were now becoming glaringly obvious. Did Sakura once think her kind? Ridiculous; Ino had only initially approached to make fun of her too. Was she funny? Certainly - if you liked mean-mouthed girls. Was she smart, fashionable and sophisticated? Yes, she was pathetically obsessed with superficial matters and showing off... not to mention being laughably vain, overly proud, and unbearably arrogant. But what really infuriated Sakura was the unforgivable way that (she now realized) Ino had always treated her, acting as if Sakura was the faithful little lap dog that it had briefly amused her to play with. Well, she was through with hiding in the shadow of the queen. She had seen into Ino’s heart and was no longer in awe of her. Instead Sakura vowed to beat Ino at her own game, surpassing her on all levels in those things she most prided herself: in academics, in artistry, in _ninjutsu_ or whatever else Ino threw at her. But above all else, Sakura swore that she would crush her in _love_. Ino would never take Sasuke away from her as if it were a given; he couldn’t be left to the mercy of a girl so shallow, especially not when he had someone whose heart was true...

_When you should grab something, grab it; when you should let go, let go._

Maybe it was largely thanks to her rival that Sakura could now tap into the will power that drove her to succeed, but she felt no call for gratitude, as Ino was no longer a friend. She was nothing more than a target to leave in the dust, and they became enemies as swiftly as they had become friends, using Sasuke as their battle cry. In time Sakura saw Ino undergo a transformation of her own, shedding the slightly tomboyish look as she adopted a more feminine image, complete with longer hair and risque clothing. Nor did she hide her crush on Sasuke anymore, instead becoming as vociferous as Sakura in declaring her intentions. Sakura mostly met these increasing provocations with cold contempt, but inside she seethed, her emotions grown hypersensitive to Ino’s aggressions as if the other girl were pressing on a raw nerve. Eventually it took very little to set the two at each other’s throats.

It had all come to a head during the Chuunin Exams. After their duel, Sakura at last had the satisfaction of knowing that, even though she had not quite bested Ino, her rival at least acknowledged her as an equal. There was no longer a question of Sakura being lost in her shadow - or of being a viable contender for Sasuke’s affections anymore. It was a truce of sorts, one that allowed them to reestablish the old friendship, but nevertheless something had fundamentally changed between them. Sakura could never completely lose that combative instinct whenever Ino was involved, and nor could Ino; their rivalry seemed permanently ingrained into their relationship. Perhaps they’d gone past the point where they could ever return to being just friends again... she didn’t know.

The past three years, however, had done much to restore their level of trust. Though Sakura found it hard to admit, it had helped greatly that Sasuke was gone. What helped even more was Ino’s own attitude about his abandonment. It hadn’t taken long before her attention turned towards other boys, the cuter the better, and she didn’t hesitate to share these fleeting crushes with her best friend. Sakura found Ino’s new boy obsession somewhat annoying and yet something of a relief, but it also reinforced her opinion that Ino’s infatuation with Sasuke had always been shallow. Regardless, she had come to understand one thing in their battle’s aftermath. Even if things sometimes got touchy between them, Sakura was glad to have Ino back. She had not fully appreciated until it was all over just how hard it had been not to have her closest friend during that dark period.

So why was Ino screwing it all up again?

Sakura grew more frustrated as her confusion and guilt immediately doubled. Why was she even feeling this way? She renewed the effort to be rational. All right, so maybe she shouldn’t hold Ino’s old sins against her - the past was the past after all. And yes, Ino was now desperately boy-crazed and was obviously taking advantage of Naruto’s goodwill... it was very aggravating, but still, why should she care? This was Ino and Naruto, for pity’s sake... _Naruto_ , not Sasuke, and Sakura had no reason to feel worried, not like she would have been were it Ino and Sasuke, and yet because it was Naruto...

Well, she couldn’t just let him run off blindly like he was prone to do, could she? Someone had to look out for the fool, _especially_ since he wasn’t anything like Sasuke. There were so many things he flatly didn’t seem to understand, from the basic facts of everyday life to the larger issues of the world they lived in - not to mention everything in between, including her... for the most part. Although maybe there were a few things he got right. Still, to Sakura Naruto would always simply be Naruto, and that meant he was just... different. 

In his own sweetly special Naruto kind of way.

_It’s hot in here_ , mussed Sakura as she pressed a palm against her forehead. Withdrawing her hand in shock, she realized that her face was flushed. _What is this about?!?_ She blinked rapidly. No way - was she really that worried about her teammate? It made no sense. Inexplicable panic set in, spinning her heart into overdrive. _No_ , commanded Sakura silently, breathing deeply until she had wrestled it into submission, her mind scrambling for control. Okay, so maybe she didn’t understand what was happening, but there was one thing she was absolutely, positively certain of - _she did not have feelings for Naruto_. _End. Of. Story!!!_

Besides, Naruto did not like Ino anyway.

A sense of reassurance that was also vaguely disturbing wafted through Sakura. Then anger blasted it away as she chastised herself for the unwelcome thought. She next tried to return to her fantasies of Sasuke, but in a flash Ino’s face had reappeared. And then Sakura was being unwillingly treated to a flood of images, a visual amalgamation of every fight she’d ever had with Ino over Sasuke - except now Naruto was watching on the sidelines, too, though she had never realized it before... and, bizarrely, Shikamaru as well, though his was a lurking presence. Deeply disturbed, she fought to banish the taunting scene, but with no success. And she also could not shake the perverse impression that history was repeating itself.

_This is all your fault, Ino!_ accused Sakura with bitter vehemence. But over what exactly, she suddenly wasn’t so sure.


	16. Tunnel Vision, Part II

Further up the tunnel, the focus of Sakura’s wrath was mindlessly drumming her fingers on a ledge as she reclined in her seat. _Gads, how cheesy is this?_ thought Ino, looking down at the cheap wooden bench and the lurid paint job. From an artistic perspective, the boat’s decor was utterly wretched - would it have killed someone to have invested a little more effort and done a better job? Completely tacky... but then again, quibbling over such details missed the ride’s entire point.

And she probably wouldn’t have cared that much, in other circumstances.

Watching Naruto swivel eagerly towards another random noise, Ino found herself helplessly sliding back into depression. How would she be acting right now, if she actually had feelings for Naruto? What would his attitude be, if he felt that way about her too? And how _weird_ was it to be in this kind of situation, sharing the most romantic day of your life with someone you really liked... but just didn’t want to kiss? 

Ino quickly gave herself another mental pinch as a reminder not to spoil the mood. She should simply enjoy the moment for what it was worth, and not ruin her fun by imagining what it was like to be part of a real couple.

Or to be loved by someone.

She slumped dejectedly back against the seat, feeling as blue as on the day when Sakura had found her in the flower shop. But somehow thinking about her best friend caused Ino’s spirits to lift a little. Whether boyfriend or just friends, it was still going to be a lot of fun filling her in on the date’s details afterwards. Especially when Ino revealed how much her once abysmal opinion of Naruto had drastically changed. Yes, she wondered what Sakura would say to _that_.

Smirking with renewed mirth, an unbidden thought suddenly popped into her mind. _Thank heavens it isn’t Sasuke._

Ino’s merriment faded as she began to reminisce about her old crush. Although it had been years since she’d last openly declared herself for Sasuke (not since the day he’d abandoned the village), she had somehow never fully articulated the alteration of her affections before. She could still remember the confusion she had undergone as events had enfolded during the incident: deep concern for Sakura, who had been near hysterical in her grief, and then sick worry for Choji, who had almost died, and as for Shikamaru... well, that had been a little odd. 

She remembered starting off being greatly annoyed with the thoughtless jerk for having taken Choji on the pursuit but leaving her behind. Yet once the reports of serious injuries began filtering back, a heavy dread the likes of which she’d never before experienced swiftly crept its way through her system; she was soon plagued by the irrational belief that something inside herself was about to be violently hollowed out. Ino found that the only way to suppress this frightening sensation was by flying around trying to garner new updates, no matter how slight; activity kept her agitated mind from examining these unsettling emotions too closely. But it wasn’t until Ino finally got the news that Shikamaru had returned with nothing more than a broken finger that she’d felt the strangest of all: terribly angry with him, for causing her all the needless worry... yet mostly just profoundly _relieved_. So relieved, in fact, that Ino almost immediately forgot that she had ever been anxious at all, and it was with a decidedly lighter heart that she went to excitedly find Sakura and tell her the good news that everyone had at last returned. 

And then she’d thought of Choji first when they’d returned together to the hospital.

Was that the moment when things had changed? In retrospect, Ino supposed that her formerly blind adoration of Sasuke had been irrevocably poisoned because of that day. The memory of Sakura’s tears, the report on Choji’s wasted body, and then the haunted expression on Shikamaru’s face - Ino didn’t fully understand it, but she knew that something had begun to change in her lazy teammate ever since. As for _her_... well, she just couldn’t think of Sasuke in the same way as before. It was like being slapped awake from an overly long, strange dream. Afterwards, she listened sympathetically whenever Sakura gave into the need to pine over her lost love, but in time Ino admitted that she was attracted to other boys. True, as Shikamaru would sometimes derisively point out, she had still been woefully entranced by the idea of finding someone a lot like Sasuke, but as for the boy himself... 

Perhaps Ino had never said it plainly, but she knew that a door in her heart had been quietly shut against that path. Now she merely wondered how she would act towards him should he ever return. But even more importantly... how would it affect the status of things between her and Sakura?

A familiar stir of rivalry instantly rose within Ino, causing her to clench her fists. Perhaps the matter of winning Sasuke’s heart had long since tipped in Sakura’s favor - but that _didn’t_ mean she’d lost the battle in love yet! After all, she had made a solemn vow of her own, all those years ago in the aftermath of Sakura’s betrayal. She too would never give up on her dream of finding the love of her life one day. _Never_.

Sakura wasn’t going to be the only one lucky like that.

Closing her eyes, Ino began to somberly meditate on the chain of events that had brought her to this point. Sometimes it felt as if her life were divided into two periods: Before Sakura and After. Things had been so much easier during the first part, when her ability to entrance others and being adored in return had more of the simplicity of a game. By contrast, her interactions these days were fraught with uncertainty and self-recrimination - and since when had it become so difficult merely to be _liked_? It hadn’t been that way at the beginning, when she was young. She’d known what it meant to be loved, back then.

Or at least she’d thought she had. 

As a child, it was all about being the center of attention - that was how the world worked in Ino’s earliest memories, the very first lesson she’d ever been taught. If people loved you, they praised you, and Ino could recall nothing else feeling quite so good to her young ears as being repeatedly told that she was special. It began innocently enough with her parents, who couldn’t resist giving special indulgence to their sole offspring and heir, but Ino found things much the same even outside her doting family. Whether acquaintance or stranger, it was never difficult to find someone willing to exclaim over her golden hair or blue eyes or dimpled smile. Having people notice her was easy. Getting them to like her was the next natural step.

Age made Ino more socially adept. She was good at reading others, quick to learn the best way to appeal to them. With experience and success, her confidence increased as did her boldness. By the time she entered the academy, she had developed a finely-honed ability to discern what others expected from her and adapt accordingly. And because there was nothing she loved more than to be admired, Ino pushed herself to excel in every task, acquiring a circle of admirers among both peers and teachers until at last she’d succeeded in becoming the most popular girl in her year, and a leader in her class. Moreover, the steady flow of compliments and attention through the years also had another profound effect on Ino: it strengthened her sense of personal merit. She believed herself perfectly capable of doing anything she desired, as her faith in herself was absolute.

And what was so bad about that?

Misgivings came during those unguarded moments when Ino was being truly honest with herself. She was aware on some level that she was a bit spoiled. It was hard to take criticism. She wasn’t used to being censured; it had the strange effect of making her feel like a failure, and she hated _that_ more than anything else. And although she liked people, she was disdainful of those less talented of herself, and careless in her treatment of others. She never really believed she was wrong about anything.

But the darkest truth of all was that a tiny (though rarely acknowledged) seed of doubt grew in the recesses of Ino’s mind. Outwardly she was a confident, self-assured girl - the smart, talented, and accomplished “princess” everyone esteemed - but inside she was growing restless. Even in the midst of people, a baffling sense of loneliness would sometimes dog her. She craved approval, but it was no longer enough. And now she had a new secret fear, one that occasionally caused her to question everything about herself. Was she _really_ the person others made her out to be... or had she merely mastered the art of blinding them all with charm? 

Ino began yearning for something more.

Perhaps that was part of the reason why she’d been drawn to Sakura. No one had really understood why the queen bee had adopted the shy little ghost whom everyone else picked on, and even Ino herself sometimes wondered at the impulse that started it all. But Sakura was not merely a project, although she’d started out that way. Over time, Ino found that behind the painful shyness was another equally strong-minded girl, and with her protégée's gradual metamorphosis came a maturation in their relationship. Sakura became the one person whom Ino was, for once, free to share her true self with, and who genuinely liked her for it. Unexpectedly, she became Ino’s best friend - and a _real_ friend, by far the closest she’d ever had. 

So maybe it was because they were such kindred spirits that Ino perceived the danger long before Sakura did. 

When Sasuke entered the picture, Ino had already been harboring a crush on him for quite some time. He by far outshone every other boy in their year - what girl wouldn’t want him to notice her? But Sasuke was one of the few ‘worthwhile’ people on whom Ino’s charms had never worked: he looked straight through her as he did all the rest. It rankled. Though loathe to admit it, Sasuke’s complete indifference hurt her pride enough that, while she never obsessed over him, Ino refused to acknowledge that she liked him all that much. Frankly, what entitled him to having such an overblown ego?

It was a bitter irony, then, that her own ego was the first thing Ino regretted afterwards. If she had been more open about her feelings at the outset, might she have preempted the war to come? If only she had swallowed her pride! Instead when Sakura excitedly announced her crush on Sasuke to everyone on that fateful day, Ino had said nothing. After all, what was so great about _him_?

But although dignity kept her mute, another much deeper worry began brewing inside Ino’s heart. A sense of foreboding had overcome her during Sakura’s declaration and was refusing to go away. True, no girl would find it easy knowing that she was in competition with her best friend over the same boy... but Sakura was still in the dark on that. Even if it was difficult, shouldn’t best friends share those kind of secrets? But then how would Sakura react once Ino confessed her crush? 

And why did Ino have the feeling that she wouldn’t like the response?

Feeling troubled and wary, she began to spy on Sakura in the weeks that followed, observing and analyzing her friend’s every move much closer than before. What she learned unsettled her further. Sakura’s absolute devotion to Sasuke was shocking in its obsessive intensity - _nothing_ the boy did escaped her notice or fantasies. And as much as she too liked Sasuke, Ino could not fathom how it was that Sakura should be so single-mindedly focused on gaining his affections. Yet even so she found herself almost envying her friend’s wholehearted passion. It kindled something dormant inside her, and Ino began wondering what it would be like to have someone she desired that much - or who likewise felt the same way about her.

She decided that she wanted such a deep, passionate love for herself too, some day.

Regardless of that, one thing was certain. Ino now realized that Sakura was head over heels in love with Sasuke - the choice whether or not she should have said anything had been lost in the moment after her friend’s announcement. All that was left was to resign herself to playing the supportive pal, listening quietly to whatever tidbit of Sasuke ‘news’ that Sakura decided to share with her, careful to let nothing slip. After awhile Ino even got used to it, certain that Sakura would never suspect the truth. She’d always been good at showing people what they wanted to see.

Which was why the day Sakura confronted Ino about her crush came as such a surprise - _how_ in the world had she finally found out? Ino cursed herself for whatever it was she’d done that had let the proverbial cat out of the bag. Yet as upsetting as Sakura’s denouncement was, Ino felt almost relieved... at first. After all, she’d been harboring a crush for months and months now, and yet they’d still been friends through it. With a little chance to clear the air, perhaps Sakura would see that it wasn’t really such a big deal? They could even share in their mutual crush together...

But she’d been foolishly grasping at straws.

In the weeks after their breach, Ino felt a return of that strange state of loneliness she’d experienced in the period just before Sakura came into her life. Restless and moody, her formerly sunny spirit darkened under a thunderstorm of unpleasant reckonings. It was hard to laugh about life without that someone who understood the joke. It was harder to admit that having a legion of admirers didn’t compare to having one good friend. But hardest of all was accepting that she’d been so thoroughly rejected by the one person she had trusted most - whom she had dearly _hoped_ \- would have chosen their friendship over a boy... as she had.

Because in the end, Ino now realized, she hadn’t really given a fig about Uchiha Sasuke. If it had meant losing Sakura, she would have gone on swallowing her feelings forever. But once Sakura had chosen Sasuke over her, everything Ino had believed about her so-called best friend was reduced to ashes. She had nothing left... except her pride.

And her pride screamed that she would be damned fool if she rolled over now and let Sakura walk all over her. If that broad-headed _brat_ wanted Sasuke that badly... so be it. But Ino wouldn’t hold back from giving her the fight of her life over him. Did Sakura think she could win his heart by her shameless cow-eyed mooning? Ino would declare her feelings twice as loudly. Had that silly pink hair finally reached her shoulders? Then Ino would grow her blonde locks down to her waist. Were Sakura’s outfits cute and comely? Hers would be much hotter and sexier. No matter how great or menial the battle, Ino vowed to do her rival twice better. Sakura was an idiot if she believed she had some kind of exclusive claim on Sasuke that Ino couldn’t trump. Blast it all, hadn’t she even liked him _first_?

But more than that... should Sasuke return Ino’s feelings one day, if after all that he decided to fall in love with _her_ \- well, wouldn’t that be worth everything else she had gone through? Yes, _that_ would prove to Sakura that she was someone to be reckoned with. She was not a pathetic pushover to be used and then casually chucked aside.

The real fighting began in earnest then. As with any goal she undertook, Ino thoroughly applied herself to the task. For awhile she was satisfied with having found an outlet for her frustration. It was immensely gratifying to flaunt herself before Sasuke and deliver a timely taunt at Sakura, knowing that she had again successfully gotten to her rival. But as time passed and the endless bickering dragged on, her sense of unhappiness only grew deeper. And as angry as she was, moments of weakness still found Ino inexplicably wishing that things would go back to the way they were before. She couldn’t understand it - what was wrong with her? Sakura was her _enemy_. There was no going back to being friends... or even time for worrying about becoming friends with anyone else.

That was until Shikamaru and Choji had unexpectedly entered her life.

Ino shook her head, recalling what she had once thought of as her lowest moment. Her world had never felt more upside down than on the day Sakura smugly informed her that she had been teamed with Sasuke. That horrible news was immediately followed by a second blow, when Ino learned that she’d been grouped with two of the biggest losers in their year, excluding Naruto. Akimichi Choji and Nara Shikamaru... the dorky fatso and the whining slacker. What the _hell_ had she ever done to deserve this?

Yet somehow those two were exactly what she had needed at the time, though Ino hadn’t seen it until much later. Their combined underachieving might coupled with her wild desperation not to lose any more ground to Sakura united in a perverse sort of challenge, inadvertently steering her onto a new path. There was no time for fretting while she was busy bossing them around or grappling with their obstinate personalities. Indeed, they all squabbled so much at first that Asuma remarked on more than one occasion that he’d been put in charge of herding cats instead of training _genin_. But while her teammates were only half-hearted followers at best and seemed equally mystified by her bizarre “girl issues,” both were surprisingly good listeners, sometimes even sharing a kind word (Choji) or dry comment (Shikamaru) after her periodic outbursts. In spite of their difficulties an odd rapport developed, which surprised Ino as much as the other two - for whatever reason, they somehow all clicked. Perhaps there really was something special to the old Ino-Shika-Cho formula after all.

And so they became friends.

For Ino this became an unexpected catharsis. It was good to again feel connected with others, on a deeper level that she hadn’t experienced since Sakura. True, it was not the same as having a best friend, but her new bonds were just as important to her, even if it wasn’t always clear to Ino how best to relate to her teammates. If figuring out Choji’s odd moods was sometimes hard, then deciphering Shikamaru’s was nigh impossible. But from the very start her relationship with _him_ had always been different.

_That troublesome guy_ , thought Ino sarcastically as she fidgeted in her seat, picturing Shikamaru’s surly face. She was still upset with him... but she’d caught herself thinking about him on and off all day. Quite a lot, actually. A little smile played about Ino’s lips as she remembered his expression when she pushed him out of her window. It was so difficult to catch him off guard like that. He was such a private, guarded person. Nothing like Choji, who was too sweet natured for his own good; Shikamaru was just too shrewd to be soft. He was a hard person, really. 

But he was always so tender whenever he touched her.

Ino felt her cheeks heat up. _That_ was the thing that had always confused her most about Shikamaru. Whenever she thought she’d figured him out, he said or did something contradictory. She remembered initially thinking him an irresponsible shirker, always bored or annoyed or complaining, but she’d since learned there was more to him. For all the times he’d been cold or cutting with her, he’d also been chivalrous and kind. She didn’t doubt his friendship, and she knew he would do anything to protect his teammates. But it was a more personal reason that had, on occasion, caused Ino to second-guess herself over him, ever since the first day they’d become _jutsu_ partners. Although Shikamaru never behaved suspiciously, had never laid a finger on her or tried flirting with her or gave any indication otherwise, there were certain moments that had left her wondering. Moments when he drew to near her - when the normal boundaries between them were lifted and he reached out to touch her - that in their aftermath always left Ino feeling... _warm_.

A gentle, relaxed feeling stirred within her. In this darkness, Ino could almost imagine Shikamaru’s presence all around her. There was something so reassuringly familiar about it that for a minute she forgot where she was. Then her brain made a connection that caused her eyes to fly open in shock. 

_This_ was the feeling she had been missing all day!

Ino just barely managed to keep herself from crying out, so great was her surprise. Was it true, had there always been something between her and Shikamaru that she had failed to see? She immediately began to doubt herself. Weren’t guys were supposed to protective anyway, and more so if they had been specifically assigned to the job? But Choji was her friend and teammate, too, and he never acted that way around her, nor had any other boy - only Shikamaru. It wasn’t the only way he’d behaved differently. He always seemed to notice her issues with Sakura more than Choji or Asuma; though he often groused that he didn’t understand what their problem was, he was still oddly supportive of her. She remembered how he’d even gone so far as to act as her conscience when Sakura was close to being killed in the Forest, and then how he’d immediately thrown himself and Choji in to back her up when at last she’d recklessly charged in to that near-fatal fight. Choji even joked afterwards that Shikamaru had at one point shut his eyes during her showdown with Sakura, news which at the time had both puzzled and annoyed her. But now...

Ino gazed down at her hands clasped in her lap and realized that she was trembling. Her whole body, in fact, felt like it had started to hum along with some mysterious internal vibration. The thoughts flying inside her head were both frightening and exciting, as her every memory of Shikamaru flowed through with heightened clarity. It couldn’t be just her imagination, could it? After all, if she had been wrong in her assumptions about Naruto for so long, then what about...?

To this her mind came to a standstill, teetering on the brink of something momentous. That this could be the unlikely answer to such a deep-rooted, painful longing... Ino hardly knew what she dared to make of it. 

All she knew for certain at that moment was that she really wanted to see him again. 

Closing her eyes, Ino suddenly wished with all her might that Shikamaru would miraculously appear. Then an inexplicable feeling came over her, nearly convincing her that if she dared to call out for him now, he somehow _would_. But in the next moment reality set in and she wondered at herself. _Get real, Yamanaka. You’re on a date in the middle of a cave far away from anyone else_ , Ino thought regretfully. _Besides, Shikamaru wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like this!_

But she kept her eyes shut nonetheless.

\----------

_This is so unbelievably lame_.

Shikamaru shook his head in disgust. Glaring at the swan’s head, he briefly wished Choji was there. Then at least he could have someone to share in the joy of deriding it thoroughly. In reality, however, he was grateful that his best friend was nowhere in sight. Choji would _never_ let him live this one down if he ever found out... though to be fair, he too would have cheerfully done the same.

Smirking at the thought of Choji wooing a girl in a ghastly pink boat, Shikamaru glanced over at his companion and promptly rolled his eyes. Who knew what all Sakura was thinking, but he guessed that the mopey, spaced-out look meant that she’d actually wanted to come on a ride like this. _If figures._ Only sappy sentimental types like her went for this sort of crap. The only good thing he could find about it was the darkness - thank God no one would see him. 

Heaving a defeated sigh, Shikamaru tried resigning himself to the irritating absurdity of it all. Never mind that stalking Ino was possibly the most embarrassing thing he’d ever done, or that masquerading as Sakura’s “date” was the weirdest. Perhaps this situation wouldn’t have been quite so all-fired annoying... if only it weren’t for these _damn swans_. Seriously, how was a guy supposed to get into the mood surrounded by this?

Well, at least it was dark, and that was the whole point. And wasn’t this the real reason why Naruto had dragged Ino in here, so that he could have some cover for the moment when he finally decided to make his move on her?

_Making your move on her._

Shikamaru scowled. Forget Naruto. It would have been so much nicer to be making his own move right now. And it wasn’t as though he’d never given thought to it before. There had been countless opportunities in the past when he’d wondered what might have happened next if he’d taken a different path. Especially during those surprising, all-too-fleeting moments when Ino had looked so flustered and vulnerable being next to him... if he’d only had the nerve, had moved his hand just a little more...

_This is no time for fantasizing!_ thought Shikamaru as he forced his errant mind back to the mission at hand. He couldn’t afford carelessness now - that was what had gotten him into this situation to begin with. That, compounded with the recklessness that had driven him into Ino’s bedroom, and topped off by the stupidity that had goaded him into arguing with her. And as much as it went against his inclination to avoid interfering in other people’s affairs, he had every intention of butting into Ino’s. For despite what she had said to him in that fateful moment before shoving him out the window, Shikamaru had since come to believe otherwise: whomever she dated _was_ his business. 

He just had to be smart about how he dealt with it from now on.

Resolved on this new course of action, Shikamaru did what he did best and let his mind wander freely over all the possible scenarios for interrupting Ino’s date. To his frustration, however, the most tempting and direct one kept repeatedly popping to mind, disrupting his progress with all the rest: with all this pervasive, custom-made darkness, it would be almost no effort to reach out with his _jutsu_ and snatch Ino in an instant - and that would be idiotic beyond measure. Disgusted with himself, Shikamaru leaned forward in the boat and cupped his fingers in his signature manner. _Focus, damn it!_

Seriously, what was the best way to approach this situation? Since grabbing Ino was out of the question (for many mortifying reasons), persuading her to come away was the only logical option. But what could he possibly say to convince her to come along with him now, especially after their fight? _Hey Ino, can we talk?_ Yeah, like hell he’d ever say that - slitting his wrists would be less painful. _Sorry to break things up, Ino, but we’ve got a new mission._ Hmm, that would be perfect, if only it were true. He might get away with faking it, though, if he just had more time and resources at his disposal... scratch that one for now. _I’ve been asked to take you home, Ino._ Well, that _might_ work, given what he knew of Mr. Yamanaka’s overprotectiveness, but it could just as easily backfire given Ino’s stubbornness. Then again, it seemed the safest reason he could give to explain why he’d bothered to follow her all the way into a love tunnel just to bust up her date. Also, once they got back to her house and the truth came out, Mr. Yamanaka would undoubtedly support his actions anyway. And should Ino decide not to leave right away, he’d still have a useful cover for tagging along with them afterwards, which would sufficiently spoil the mood. Yes, it could work... 

Settling on this excuse, Shikamaru smiled grimly. Lying wasn’t his style, but he’d do it anyway. For _this_ , it would be worth it. Maybe it was even fighting a bit dirty - but whoever said he was a classy guy?

Of course, his brain being what it was, no sooner had Shikamaru plotted the first move than a myriad of possible corollaries presented themselves, including one highly improbable but shocking outcome that his treacherous mind eagerly seized on. Suppose after he asked her to come with him, Ino didn’t argue, or even ask him any questions? What if she just went along with him... _happily_?

What was he supposed to make of that then?

The strategizing ground to a halt as Shikamaru’s cool was undermined by a deep sense of panic. His nimble mind instantly supplied a fresh slew of unhelpful scenarios, all of them featuring him letting slip some self-incriminating comment in a moment of weakness, whereafter they invariably degenerated into scenes of painfully embarrassing confessions before a curiously blank-faced Ino. _What the hell am I even thinking?_ wondered Shikamaru after a confused minute, once he’d finally managed to vehemently dispel the images. It was an irrational outcome to consider, being that he already knew Ino wasn’t going to be pleased to see him. And he’d also made up his own mind in that regard - he didn’t have to tell her anything. He just had to get her away from Naruto. It wasn’t as if she had to know how he felt, because nothing had really changed between them after all. He’d proven that he was good at hiding his feelings. So whose business was it if he had a soft spot for his teammate? It was enough that he had finally admitted it to himself.

Besides... none of this ultimately mattered. If he was being brutally honest about it, the most likely scenario was that Ino would flatly refuse to come along regardless of what he said because she simply wouldn’t want to. After following her all afternoon, Shikamaru had no doubt that she was having the time of her life right now. Why would she want to give that up, just to tag along with him?

Especially if she was falling for Naruto?

Shikamaru experienced the familiar cold stab shooting through his stomach as he mulled over this unwelcome development, which seemed more certain with each passing minute. He had a flashback to the fight in the bedroom, when Ino had flatly denied liking Naruto, and compared it to the scene at the market, when she had shouted to everyone that they were going out. Shikamaru couldn’t understand it - _why_ was their relationship unfolding so blindingly fast? Sure, he’d always known Ino was prone to impulsive behavior, but how could she have undergone such a dramatic turnaround in less than a day? It was like she was following the script to one of those silly romances she loved so much, where she was the hapless heroine swept up in a whirlwind romance with a princely new guy, leaving some dumb schmuck eating their dust to the cheers of the audience...

He had always hated that kind of story. It was not, as Ino had once asserted, that Shikamaru had anything against _romance_ per se, even if the prospect of such made him deeply nervous. His problem was with the stories themselves. Those he had been forcibly exposed to (no thanks to Ino’s obsessive behavior) had invariably left him with the sense of being set up for failure. They were so unrealistically one-sided, and he could never relate to any of the male characters. The hero, in particular, was almost uniformly irritating - too much the ideal pretty boy who said and did all the right things at the right time. Even if he messed up, there was something charming or noble about it, and trouble had a way of magically resolving itself for him. The jilted guy, on the other hand, was either a real jerk or a bland wuss. Everything he did ranged from being selfish, thoughtless, or pathetic, and his mistakes were always fatal. None of these stereotypes felt true or fair, but of them all Shikamaru held a slight sympathy for the so-called toad of the tale. He at least could relate to being stuck in the role of the luckless loser with the deck stacked against him... the difference being that _he_ actually gave a damn about the girl.

His thoughts returning to Ino and Naruto, Shikamaru wondered again how far along they’d gotten on their romantic blueprint. By his reckoning, they had successfully checked off the dining, the “wining,” and were well into the final stages of seduction. Now all that was really left was for Naruto to declare himself, and Ino would fall...

Grimacing, Shikamaru leaned forward in the boat. He hoped he wasn’t too late.


	17. Tunnel Vision, Part III

The darkness appeared to be brightening. Then Naruto’s ears perked up as he finally detected a distinctive sound drifting towards them from further up the tunnel, which was soon followed by the boat gently picking up speed. He grinned.

_All right... here we go!_

“Hey, Ino.” Naruto turned towards his companion, not noticing that he had apparently startled her out of some private thought. She gave him a flustered look.

“What is it, Naruto?”

“Come a little closer.”

Without waiting for a response, he immediately scooted towards the center of their seat, gesturing at her to move towards him. At this Ino lifted a puzzled brow.

“Er... why?”

Naruto’s grin widened. 

“Oh, I just thought it might be nice to have someone to hang on to for a little while.”

\----------

Shikamaru abruptly sat up in his seat, his hand pressing against the ear bud he had reluctantly reinserted upon entering the tunnel. Clenching his jaw with frustration, he only vaguely registered Sakura making a similar motion next to him. 

_Blast it all, I think he’s starting to make his move!_

\----------

Ino fidgeted uncertainly as she looked back at Naruto, who continued to smile unconcernedly. A seed of doubt entered her mind.

_No way. After all that, he’s not really trying to pull something with me... is he?_

She remained rooted to her spot, staring instead at the hand that Naruto patted reassuringly on the seat besides him. Finally noticing her hesitation, he eyed her curiously.

“Come on, Ino. What are you waiting for?”

Gazing into his happy, guileless face, Ino could not detect anything deceptive. Yet the niggling doubt persisted. There seemed to be something slightly mischievous in his demeanor now that hadn’t been present earlier in their date. Her brows furrowed in puzzlement. Certainly he _was_ up to something...

_Oh, for pity’s sake, Yamanaka_ , _what are you so worried about? Naruto doesn’t even know what a love tunnel ride is! Whatever he’s up to, it’s surely nothing like_ ** _that_** _._

“It’s nothing,” said Ino resolutely as she scooted next to him, feeling secure in her assessment. If Naruto wanted to act silly, well, two could play at that game. “Now, is this close enough for you?” she asked teasingly.

“Yep. But you might want to hold onto my arm too,” answered Naruto as he helpfully stuck out his elbow.

Ino primly slid her arm through his. “Like this?” she asked archly.

“Great!” Smirking, he suddenly leaned in close. “Now... close your eyes.”

\----------

_No, Ino - it’s a line! IT’S A LINE!!!_

Shikamaru gripped the edge of his seat so tightly that he was sure he’d be leaving a permanent indentation on the cheap vinyl afterwards. Goaded by a sense of desperation, he eyed the waterline, assessing the risks of using his _chakra_ to run along its dark, indistinctly moving surface. But before he could act, Sakura suddenly stood up and placed her foot roughly against the bow. The boat immediately dipped and began bobbing wildly.

“Watch it, Sakura!” warned Shikamaru angrily as he fell sideways off the bench. “You’re rocking the boat!”

Absorbed in her own worries, Sakura ignored him. “ _Aargh!_ Doesn’t this stupid thing go any faster?” 

Shikamaru watched her warily as he pushed himself upright again, noting the agitated cast to her face. She took an ungainly step backwards to correct her balance, which only caused the rocking to increase. “I can’t take this anymore - where the hell are the paddles?”

“Forget the paddles - _you’re_ going to wind up capsizing us! Sit down!”

“This is no time for sitting down!” snapped Sakura as she leaned over Shikamaru and began pawing underneath the bench. “Get out of the way; I’m trying to search here!”

“ _Eh?_ And where the heck am I supposed to go?” 

He was roughly shoved backwards in response. The boat’s bobbing continued. Gritting his teeth in consternation, Shikamaru decided to abandon the argument in hopes that a reduction in Sakura’s temper would lead to a corresponding decrease in their rocking. He then turned his attention back towards the ear bud again, but was both startled and annoyed to find that a static-like sound similar to rushing wind was garbling the sound of Ino’s voice. 

_What in blazes is Naruto doing to her now?!?_

\----------

Ino felt her back stiffen in surprise. “Why do you want me to close my eyes?”

“Erm... it’s a secret,” blurted Naruto hastily, causing her forehead to crinkle in suspicion. “Oh, come on - don’t you trust me?” he wheedled when she failed to respond.

“Not when you’re grinning like _that_ ,” answered Ino frankly. She hesitated before fixing him with a serious look. “Listen, Naruto, let’s be honest for a moment. It’s been a fun date and all, and I’ve really enjoyed hanging out with you, but I need to know... are you trying to, er, pull something with me?”

To her chagrin, Naruto began chuckling sheepishly. “All right, you got me, Ino. I was only hoping to catch you off guard.” He shrugged nonchalantly as he leaned firmly back against his seat. “But I guess you can keep your eyes open if you want to - it’s just as fun either way.”

“ _Fun either way?!?_ ” Flush with anger, Ino quickly withdrew her arm from his and crossed them defensively over her chest. “You’ve got some nerve! Don’t you think you’re presuming way too much?”

Naruto peered back in vague puzzlement. “Gee, I don’t know - I guess you would have your own preference, but I didn’t think it would matter all that much in the end.” With an apologetic nod, he gestured at her to look forward. “In that case, you’d better make up your mind real fast, Ino, ‘cause here we go.”

Snapping her head forward, Ino’s eyes widened in shock. Wrapped up in her concerns, she hadn’t noticed that it had quickly gotten much louder in the tunnel. Furthermore, the boat that had been formerly drifting along lazily was now fairly flying, and the dark waterway had narrowed dramatically from a canal into a chute. Before she could say anything, the boat rounded a bend and a loud, distinctive roar greeted them - and then she realized that they were seconds away from dropping down a gigantic slide.

“ _Naruto!_ ” shrieked Ino, impulsively grabbing onto him. The maniac whooped with glee.

They flew over the ledge and were swept along with the rushing water.

\----------

“Crap, I can’t make out what they’re saying anymore!”

Sakura’s attention was immediately drawn. Abandoning the search, she abruptly stood up and pressed her hand against her ear, throwing out the opposite arm to maintain her unsteady balance. Witnessing this, Shikamaru felt his already thin patience fail as the boat dipped noticeably again.

“There’s too much background noise!” cried Sakura, shooting a frenzied glance about the cave. “And... I think it’s coming from this side as well!”

“Whoa, _really_?” responded Shikamaru sarcastically, rolling his eyes. “Imagine that. But I guess it’s to be expected with all this pointless splashing going on!”

Forgetting the bud, Sakura glared frostily him. “Oh, yeah? Well instead of all the pointless whining, Shikamaru, why don’t you try making yourself useful for a change?”

“You mean as opposed to you, Sakura?”

Though usually far more sensible under normal conditions, Sakura’s fraying nerves had finally reached their breaking point. Overcome by an unthinking panic, she angrily reached out to seize Shikamaru’s vest and began shaking him violently.

_“Just shut up and help me find a paddle!_ ”

“ _For the last time, will you please stop rocking the boat!_ ”

The argument continued, with raised voices drowning out all other sounds within the narrowing tunnel, and neither participant noticing as the boat rapidly began to pick up speed.

\----------

After a wild series of drops and turns, Ino felt the speed of their boat slacking off. Next the sound of rushing water rapidly abated. Sensing that the ride was over, she began to move again, loosening her grip on Naruto’s arm - and then she heard him chuckling.

“You can open your eyes now, Ino,” said Naruto, his voice overly-pleased yet strangely hushed. “Besides, I wouldn’t want you to miss this.”

Torn between annoyance and amusement, Ino looked up at Naruto, expecting to find him smirking at her. Instead he was staring upwards, and she became aware that they had just entered a large chamber. Sitting up fully, she craned her head to gaze around at their surroundings and gasped.

“Oh, _Naruto_ ,” she murmured in a breathy whisper. “I can’t believe this...!”

Recalling the legendary abilities of the First Hokage, Ino realized that the chamber could only have been achieved by his work. The “walls” were composed of a series of interwoven roots, forming natural bowls from which a multitude of miniature waterfalls trickled with a crystalline sound. Directly above them a large crevice in the ceiling allowed light to filter through, bathing everything with a soft glow. But what gave the place its ethereal atmosphere was that interspersed throughout the root basins were masses of an unusual plant. Long tendrils stretched from floor to ceiling, each bearing rows of bulbs made of opalescent petals that shimmered with a golden hue.

“My goodness, everything is covered with _fire orchids_!” exclaimed Ino in rapt awe. “They’re so unbelievably rare and difficult to grow, and I’ve only ever once seen a live one before! Naruto, this place is just amazing!”

Naruto swelled with pride at her reaction. “I’ve been wanting to come here with someone for a long time. I’m really glad it’s with you.” Then he grinned sheepishly. “So you like it, huh?”

“I _love_ it,” said Ino sincerely. She turned to flash him a sunny smile. “Really, Naruto - thanks for bringing me here.”

They spent a few moments in silence just admiring the chamber as the boat drifted slowly towards the exit. Ino sighed wistfully, wishing there was a way to prolong the ride so that she could stay in there a little longer. Then Naruto stood up carefully and reached out towards one of the flowers.

“Oh, don’t pluck it!” cried Ino. “It’s practically a sacred plant, and it’ll die within minutes once it’s cut!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” said Naruto as he looked questioningly back at her. “But wouldn’t you like to get a closer look at one while you still have the chance?”

Ino blinked, taken aback at the idea, but she was quickly tempted. It was exactly what she was longing to do. And such a rare opportunity besides... what was the harm?

“Yes, I _would_ ,” she readily admitted, but then a problem struck her. “But there’s no place to tie up the boat. If we jump out it’ll keep going with the current and leave us behind. And I don’t want to look stupid trying to thumb a ride out with some other couple!”

“Oh, that’s not a problem. They send the boats through at regular intervals, so another empty one will pass by eventually. We’ll just sneak out on a later ride.”

Judging by the expression on her face that he had sufficiently persuaded Ino, Naruto sprang lightly from the boat and landed on the narrow ledge bordering the waterway. He quickly turned to beckon her.

“Come on and jump, Ino! Hurry up before the boat leaves the room!”

Realizing just how close the exit was, Ino stood up a bit too hastily, causing the craft to rock. “All right, here I come!” she called out while taking a giant leap - but the bobbing had caused her to make a slight miscalculation. Landing badly on the ledge, her feet slipped and she began to fall backwards towards the water. Then she felt Naruto seizing her about the waist and lifting her off the ground, and they fell back together against the cavern wall. A feeling of _déjà vu_ filled Ino as she clung to Naruto’s shoulders, her heart beating wildly with the adrenaline rush.

“Hey, are you okay?” asked Naruto after he caught his breath.

“Y-yeah,” murmured Ino, somewhat embarrassed. _This feels kind of weird without Shikamaru._ “Um, thanks a lot, Naruto. But can you put me down?”

“Sure thing, Ino. Just give me a moment to find a good -.”

At that moment, the sound of someone cursing loudly broke the relative peace of the chamber. Startled, Naruto and Ino swiveled their heads in time to see another swan boat burst into the orchid room. To their surprise, however, it wasn’t empty...

_Who in the world?_ wondered Ino as the boat drew closer.

To Naruto and Ino’s view, at first the two occupants appeared little more than a tangle of limbs. Then it quickly became apparent that the girl was sprawled across the lap of her disheveled partner, her arms fully encircled about his neck. He, in turn, had his hands wrapped firmly around her waist, and was pressing them both together so tightly that there could be little doubt as to the nature of their relationship. Feeling slightly discomfited at the display given her own unattached status, Ino was about to look away - and then she suddenly registered their faces. She felt Naruto’s grip simultaneously begin to spasm, and though she was resting against his warm chest, Ino nevertheless felt as if she’d been turned to ice.

The second boat drew even. There was a moment of stunned silence as four pairs of eyes sized each other up. Then - 

“...S-sakura?”

“Naruto!”

“Ino...”

“ _Shikamaru?!?_ ”


	18. Turnabout, Part I

_It hurts._

The sudden blast of light was blinding, causing Shikamaru to blink rapidly as he adjusted to the unexpected glare of sunshine washing over him. He vaguely registered Sakura slipping off his lap, falling backwards onto the floor of their boat as she too began rubbing her eyes. Ignoring her, Shikamaru peered blearily about, disoriented by the wall of greenery moving steadily past them. Then he understood - they’d exited the tunnel unawares, having been so stunned by the scene that had greeted them in the final room.

Recalling the sight, Shikamaru’s blood surged. Somehow imagining Uzumaki with his grubby hands around Ino hadn’t done justice to its actual visual confirmation. Moreover, seeing Ino with her arms wrapped around that moron’s neck, pressed tightly against his chest - _aarrgghh_. But most troubling was witnessing the what-are-you-two-fools-doing-here expression on both their faces when he and Sakura had floated past. Were they really that upset at having been interrupted? Ino certainly sounded as if she couldn’t believe that he was there. And as for the Village Idiot...

His brows knitted in a puzzled scowl. The fact that Uzumaki had done nothing at all to disengage himself from Ino made Shikamaru realize he’d been harboring yet another mistaken assumption. Since Sakura’s confirmation about this being essentially a pity date, Shikamaru had been certain that, even if he couldn’t understand Ino’s romantic intentions, there was no way Jerk Boy was _really_ serious about Ino - he was just taking advantage of the situation. Up until that moment, Shikamaru had presumed that, when presented by the choice, Uzumaki would have been instantly provoked into forgetting all about Ino by the sight of his beloved Sakura appearing at the critical moment. He had only rejected this as a useful date-breaking scheme because, as prone to over-excitability and wrong conclusions as Uzumaki was, that scenario would also probably have meant that Shikamaru would’ve had to deal with the nuisance of a horde of highly-agitated clones descending on him _en masse_. 

Shikamaru ground his teeth. _On second thought, I wish that idiot **had** lost it,_ he amended darkly.He would have welcomed the opportunity to skewer the lot of them in the dark.

Uzumaki hadn’t though, and Shikamaru grimaced as he mentally tallied his growing list of blunders. He’d been wrong about predicting someone else’s reactions - _again_.

_Just like in Ino’s bedroom._

An unpleasant notion that had been steadily growing in Shikamaru all day at last burst forth. Reluctantly, he reconsidered fight he’d had with Ino. Yes, he knew he’d unintentionally upset her, but not once had he felt afterwards that he’d said anything truly _wrong_. Now, however... 

_Did it ever occur to you that I could change my mind? That maybe I could... see beyond all that?_

_For your information, I’ve decided to turn over a new leaf, Shikamaru. When it comes to dating, I’m giving every guy a fair chance now._

Shikamaru shifted uncomfortably. Whatever her motives, he perceived now that Ino had truly been sincere when she’d told him that she was making an effort to change. He recalled the oddly eager look on her face, too - as if it was somehow important that he acknowledge that. And how had he responded?

_And that’s all it takes now? You’ll go out with any guy who asks? What... is this some kind of new dating resolution of yours?_

_Very egalitarian of you, Ino. Oh, sure, it’s a great dating strategy. Best of luck on that one._

Shikamaru felt his conscience start to burn as the memory of Ino’s angry, hurt face sprang to mind. He thought back to the visit Sakura had made, the one that had precipitated this whole affair. He could own up to now what he hadn’t wanted to admit then: that he’d been jealous from the start, that talking about Ino’s romantic life was a touchy subject with him. 

Shaking his head, Shikamaru heaved a reluctant sigh. _It’s more than a “touchy” subject._ Truth be told, he’d been harboring an unspoken resentment against Ino for quite some time now, and that made it all too easy to be rude with her. Even when she didn’t deserve it...

_Blind? How the hell does that make me blind?_

_Hell, Ino, you’re blind ‘cause you just don’t get it._

A sense of bitter irony rose up inside Shikamaru. The question of who was “blind” now seemed to be a highly subjective matter. _Damn it, if only I could redo that stupid argument, take back the careless things I said... then maybe Ino wouldn’t have..._

His resolve faltered.

_Why am I still wasting my time here?_ Shikamaru thought suddenly, abandoning all hope. _None of this matters anymore._ It was past time to abort the mission, time to admit that it had all gone to hell. Now that Ino had unmistakably gotten together with Naruto, well... after all that had happened between them, there was no way he’d be able to convince her to consider him instead. And he really didn’t want to stick around to witness the end of the date.

His decision made, Shikamaru abruptly stood up in the boat. “So long, Sakura. I'm out of here,” he muttered hollowly as he prepared to leap to the riverbank.

Sakura, who was staring fixedly back at the tunnel’s receding exit, reacted by locking her gaze with his, and Shikamaru was taken aback by her distant, disoriented expression. Jumping up, she seized his arm so tightly that he winced.

“You can't run away from this!” insisted Sakura, prompting Shikamaru’s eyes to widen in alarm. “You have to do something!”

Shikamaru yanked his arm free. “What am _I_ supposed to do? You saw how they were!” He gestured back towards the tunnel. “Sakura, there’s just no point in sticking around if Ino and Naruto are –”

Sakura, who had turned to look back down the canal, let out a gasp. Then before he could argue or even think, Shikamaru found himself being pulled alongside as she leapt clear of the boat and into a dense clump of bushes. “ _They're coming!_ ” she hissed as she shoved him face down onto the ground.

Silenced by surprise (and an unexpected clump of dirt in his mouth), Shikamaru wrestled with another pang of indecision as he reluctantly took up position next to Sakura. He wanted badly to bolt, yes. But he also couldn’t resist wanting to look at Ino one more time.

\----------

_Oooohhhhh...._

Ino blinked painfully as she stared up at the calm, clear sky, her mind a contrasting whirl of turbulent thoughts. She barely registered Naruto’s silent presence sitting next to her - somehow he’d guided her into this passing boat, but she had been largely unaware of the actual embarkment. Instead she felt like a stone statue, insensible to everything save the frigid air flowing over her skin. When had the day turned so chilly?

A fresh shiver passed through Ino as she thought about the orchid room, remembering Shikamaru’s face. It was shocking enough just seeing him with that pink-haired piranha straddled shamelessly across his lap, but it was the distant way he‘d gazed into her eyes that had left her feeling frozen to the core. It was if he’d been saying “ _I guess this is the way things are going to be from now on.”_

_Shikamaru... why? WHY?_

Instantly there was a twisting in her heart, a dull, sick feeling in her stomach, and suddenly it was all she could do to keep from regurgitating her earlier meal into the canal. She hastily leaned over the side of the boat, struggling to hold it in, and caught sight of her reflection on the water’s surface: as disturbed and fractured as she felt inside. And it was at that miserable moment that Ino finally got something that hit home with merciless lucidity.

She was in love with Shikamaru.

Ino would have laughed at the cruel absurdity of this insight if she’d harbored the slightest doubt of its truth. No, it was not the idea that she could fall for someone like Shikamaru – far from it. Rather it was that for years she had been fantasizing about this, the moment when she would first fall in love – _really_ in love – with someone. For crying out loud, falling in love was supposed to be _fun_ : the flutter of your heart, the jitter in your nerves, the warmth in your veins simply at the mere thought of being near your beloved. But to have arrived at such a momentous occasion knowing without a doubt that the one she yearned for had no feelings in return... was in fact already clearly involved with somebody else...!

She had never once dreamed it could be so painful. 

The boat bumped against the riverbank, and Ino felt herself being awkwardly guided out onto the grass. Still too disoriented to do much else, she stumbled over to a nearby park bench and sank down weakly. She was dimly aware of Naruto following suit, and for a while they sat there side by side, saying nothing.

“That was... unexpected,” said Ino, breaking the silence first. “Did... did you have any idea?”

“No,” murmured Naruto, his voice sounding hollow. “None whatsoever.”

“Oh...”

They fell quiet again. Still disoriented, Ino stared mindlessly up at the sky reflecting about Shikamaru, until a perplexing thought struck her.

“What do you think drew them together?”

“I guess... they must have found something in common,” answered Naruto dully.

This response did not sit well with Ino. A flicker of annoyance cut through her cloud of confusion and she sat up straighter. “But _what?_ Do they really have anything in common at all?”

“Well... they’re both really smart,” said Naruto, at a loss for any ideas other than the most obvious one.

“Smart - _huh!_ ” Ino sniffed haughtily as if it were a distasteful condition. “What’s so great about being a brainiac, anyway? It’s so overrated.”

“Huh?” Naruto looked confusedly at Ino, as if she’d lost her mind. Having often been accused of coming up short in that department, his experience suggested quite the opposite. But Ino was pointing a finger emphatically in the air.

“It’s hard dealing with a super smart person. They may know a lot of stuff, but they don’t like to talk about just anything,” she explained disgustedly. “Shikamaru gets bored so easily. It’s hard to get him to loosen up - or even to _lighten_ up when you’re just making small talk!”

“Yeah... Sakura gets really annoyed with what I say an awful lot,” admitted Naruto. “And she’s always telling me off for not paying attention or understanding things – but it’s not like I can remember everything she does!”

“Plus I can never tell when he actually cares about something. He almost never shows how he really feels about _anything_ ,” continued Ino, crossing her arms angrily. “He’s always so cold and indifferent!”

Naruto reluctantly nodded. “She does and says whatever she wants, but she doesn’t ever think to ask me how that makes me feel.”

“He’s so rude and _sarcastic._ He’s always making fun of me and dismissing me out of hand!”

“She says too much. Sometimes she’s just... mean.” With a heavy sigh after this last admission, Naruto gazed dejectedly at his boutonniere. “I guess they kind of have a lot in common after all, huh?”

“Yes, they _do_ ,” responded Ino sharply, her voice somewhat choked. “They’re both a couple of... of nerdy, dorky _JERKS!_ ”

Her outburst elicited a very weak smile, but then Naruto sighed deeply again. “That wasn’t very kind, Ino.”

“It felt good to say out loud, though, didn’t it?”

But it didn’t feel good at all, and Ino sunk her head into her hands, feeling as if she could howl. Maybe now she finally understood all too well why Sakura behaved as she had all those years ago when she’d turned her back on their friendship.

_Is this how is was for you, Sakura? Is this how you felt when you found out that I had a crush on Sasuke? Did it feel like something was dying inside, knowing that some other girl was trying to take the one you loved away forever?_

_Sakura, if you’re serious about Shikamaru, I... I don’t think I can be friends with you anymore._

____________

Sharing his companion’s misery, Naruto was trying likewise to process his feelings from the scene in the cave. Sheer world-shattering astonishment, however, was making it twice as difficult for him to form any coherent opinion. A multitude of thoughts were skittering through his mind, all of them centering around his long, complex relationship with Sakura – and, conversely, her equally long-running Sasuke complex.

Naruto had long been resigned to this state of affairs. Even when he complained about it, a part of him acknowledged that this wasn’t entirely fair; he had been given due warning. Right from the start, Sakura had made it clear who she was – and more pointedly _wasn’t_ – in love with. He couldn’t accuse her of sending him mixed signals... although he sure wouldn’t have minded getting one or two along the way.

So why was it that he still pursued her, given the general lack of encouragement?

Of course, in Naruto’s world “encouragement” had always been in short supply, so that wasn’t exactly a reason to stop. Were it a requirement, he would have given up on becoming Hokage long ago, much less dreaming about winning Sakura. But Naruto also knew himself well enough by now to know that he was hopeless at hiding his real feelings – as the saying went, he wore his heart on his sleeve. When he felt something, he had to act on it, and not in halves but in whole. And there was just something about Sakura that brought the passion out in him.

He thought back to the time when he had first began noticing her. It seemed to Naruto that one bright day this mysterious girl with green eyes and pretty pink hair pulled back in a headband had suddenly appeared at his school – which he found out later was dead wrong; she had been a classmate all along... and somehow (incomprehensibly) he had never been aware of her. Sadly, she was also a fixture at (as he then thought) that scary Yamanaka girl’s side, which put her even further out of his social circle than normal. Still, a boy could dream, and as he watched ever-hopefully, she continued to stand out more and more. So it was a bummer day when his pretty girl came out and openly declared her love for Uchiha. A sad day, yes, but not exactly a surprise... yet it did nothing to cool his regard for her.

Which begged the question: since his admiration was so plainly one-sided, why _did_ he like Sakura so much that he would risk incurring her wrath time and again?

He finally got an answer in the aftermath of the trick he’d pulled on Sasuke right after they’d been grouped in Team 7. Getting Sakura to open up to him while in the guise of Sasuke was somewhat surreal, and even a bit painful (both during and afterwards), but he’d never once regretted doing it. Gazing on Sakura’s unguarded face while she was so openly displaying her feelings for Sasuke made Naruto comprehend in an instant why he was so drawn to her – hers was a passionate, fiercely determined spirit that wholly desired to be acknowledged by the one thing she had set her heart on. In that regard, at least, he had understood her perfectly. 

After all, they were a lot alike that way.

Still, it had taken some time before Naruto could reconcile himself to this: in loving Sakura, part of him had to accept her devotion to Sasuke. That truth had been brutally brought home to him on the fateful morning when Sakura had tearfully begged him to bring Sasuke back to her. _You really like him, don’t you?_ he had felt compelled to admit, unable to come up with anything more eloquent to describe the enormity of his own dejected feelings at that moment. But even as much as it pained him to see her expressing such sentiments, he admired – even treasured – that aspect of her. Love it or leave it, this was Sakura. So because it was _her_... and because it was _for_ her... he chose to love it anyway.

So that was all well and good... but where did stupid Shikamaru fit into all this?!?

Agitated feelings coursed through Naruto, partly indignant and largely conflicted. Never once had it ever occurred to him that Sakura could fall for someone else besides Uchiha. How had it happened? Why had it happened? It went against _everything_ she had said and done for the past three years! If he himself hadn’t witnessed her affair firsthand –!

_Sakura, how could you?_

At that moment Naruto wondered if he was actually sorrier for himself or (surprisingly) for Sasuke. Well, he couldn’t speak for Uchiha, but his own disappointment in Sakura was profound. He didn’t know quite why, but it felt as if she had inexplicably betrayed both of them. And now he couldn’t help wondering – if he had misjudged Sakura’s heart so badly, what else about her was he mistaken about? In fact, had he ever _really_ understood her at all?

_Maybe not._

A fresh wave of deep sadness seeped through Naruto and his thoughts became more melancholy. Perhaps all this time it was not so much her but him who had the blinders on. He had never gotten very far romantically with her no matter what he’d said or tried. Wasn’t it high time for him to face up to the facts? Did he honestly think he’d ever had a real chance with her?

_I did... once._

Strangely enough, this was true. There was that stubborn, ever-hopeful side to his nature that truly believed that someday, somehow he could make Sakura understand the depth of his feelings for her. All he needed was opportunity and time. But now Naruto wondered at the blithe audacity of it all. Was it foolhardy optimism that had kept him going for so long? Was it bull-headed stubbornness? Or was it nothing more or less than an impassioned, persistent delusion?

_Maybe I’ve been blind to the truth after all. No matter what I do, my feelings just don’t reach you. Sakura... I guess you’ll fall for anyone but me, huh?_

A flame of jealousy stirred up in his heart, and for a moment Naruto felt he should go confront Sakura: to demand an explanation for her shockingly fickle behavior; for setting him up with her unwitting best friend so she could sneak off with a bum like Nara; to finally and unequivocally hear what was so irredeemably inadequate about him that she couldn’t bring herself to like him... But the fire in his gut went cold at this last bit, and he lost all desire to face her. He just couldn’t stand to hear the reasons for _that_ coming straight from her mouth.

Still, thought Naruto with a painful smile, even if he couldn’t deal directly with her, it would be worth it to hunt the happy couple down just for the pleasure of Rasenganing Nara’s snarky ass into oblivion. But no, Sakura wouldn’t like it, and if that’s the way she truly felt about him... then... 

Naruto looked down at the the boutonniere still affixed his lapel. Lightly fingering the fuzzy petals one last time, he reached down and pulled out the pin.

_If that’s really what you want, Sakura... I won’t stand in your way._

Standing up from the bench, he walked to the edge of the canal. Stretching out his hand, he twisted the sprig of blue and gold in his fingers until, loosening his grasp, he allowed the boutonniere to tumble free and fall into the channel, where it bobbled uncertainly on the current before being sucked beneath the surface of the water.

_Farewell, Sakura._

He let out a long, deep sigh.

“Do you want to go home now?”

Lifting his eyes, Naruto found Ino gazing solemnly at him, and was struck by how much she looked like he felt. For a moment he was at a loss to say anything. According to his original plan, this would have been the natural conclusion to their outing. Considering her offer now, however, he felt something stiffening inside him. Although he didn’t feel he was much in the way of good company, he did _not_ want to go back to sit alone with his thoughts in his empty apartment.

“Nah... we're still on a date, right?”

Naruto held out his arm to her, and Ino gratefully took it. As they quietly walked away from the canal on a path leading to the scenic overlooks, Ino found herself instinctively snuggling into Naruto’s side. A movie reel of Sakura’s and Shikamaru’s amorous clutching kept playing over and over in her head, making her feel more desperate and lonely with each run through. More than anything she wanted to be close to someone, too.

And tonight was still for her and Naruto... for however long it lasted.


	19. Turnabout, Part II

Nearby Shikamaru stirred numbly in the dirt, straining under an unexpected onset of paralysis. It was strange that the power of words alone could have such a draining effect, but it was as he listened to Ino’s complaints that he’d been overcome by an overwhelming heaviness that, by tirade’s end, caused him to feel like he was being pressed into the very earth. Even as he saw Ino taking Naruto’s arm, watched her leaning against his side and being led away into the darkening woods, Shikamaru could not summon the wherewithal to push himself up off the ground - his limbs had become useless rubber.

And all because of the sound of Ino’s voice looping ceaselessly through his head:

_Bored... Cold... Indifferent..._

Shikamaru cringed at the feeling that something inside was shriveling up. He wanted to defend himself from the litany of offenses but couldn’t: he knew that all of Ino’s assertions were true. Worse, he had never tried to hide or soften his shortcomings for anyone, least of all _her_. And he’d never really taken them all that seriously before now.

Perhaps the root of the trouble was in the double-bind created by his unique personality: his natural apathy protected him from caring much about what others thought, but likewise prevented him from caring more when he ought to have. Ever pragmatic, Shikamaru had reasoned that he’d simply been born that way - so if people didn’t like his attitude, that was _their_ problem. It wasn’t worth the time or effort to try befriending such obtuse people anyway. He knew he had decent points, too, and the people that mattered most to him up until now had always been able to discern that... for the most part.

_Rude... Sarcastic... Dismissive..._

But now that irritating inner voice was chiming in, mercilessly reminding Shikamaru that even all the better qualities he claimed to possess had their dark sides. His brilliance was hampered by laziness. His wisdom was undermined by his whining. He was astute, but apathetic. He was as frequently mean as he was kind. Even his easygoing passivity could be twisted into willful obstinacy when it suited his needs, as his mother well knew. 

Darkest of all, however, was the flip side to Shikamaru’s strong sense of fair play and decency, and the one thing he truly hated admitting about himself: that when pushed to it, there was a part of his heart that could be as ruthlessly hard and unforgivingly cold as ice.

And what could he ever say in his defense to Ino or to anyone else about _that_?

_Ah, but you already know what she thinks about you_ , thought Shikamaru, and it was in many ways far kinder than what he felt he deserved. Nevertheless he clenched his fist reflexively, bracing himself for the worst as the vocal loop reached its conclusion:

_JERK!!!_

A hopeless gloom settled inside him. _Damn_ , he thought, recollecting all the truly awful things he’d said about Ino, especially in the last few days. He sighed dejectedly, feeling the last of his strength ebbing out of his arms. _I really have been such a stupid jerk with her. Man, I wish I could go take it all back. If only I could tell her..._

_... If only?_

At that moment, a strange sensation overcame Shikamaru - a stirring from deep within, almost as if some internal switch had been flipped. Then he felt a pulsing heat begin flowing through his veins, and in his head he clearly heard the sound of his father’s voice:

_Well what of it, son? What are you going to do now?_ asked Shikaku humorlessly. _Your plans have all failed and your goal is beyond reach - and there you are groveling with self-pity in the dirt like a worm. It makes me wonder, Shikamaru. After all this time, are you really a man... or a coward?_

Shikamaru tensed, recalling the first time he’d heard those words during that painful scene in the hospital after his failed mission. It had been a harsh dressing down, doubly so for having occurred in the presence of a girl, but he’d undeniably grown much as a result of it. Still, it was galling to hear the accusation repeated. Anger rose up within him, but one tempered with humility - he was at least that much of a man now to face up to his own shortcomings.

_Yeah... I guess I’ve certainly been acting like a coward_ , admitted Shikamaru bitterly. _Running scared like a stupid, idiotic fool._

The Shikaku in his mind now appeared to be wearing a thin smile. _But even if that’s so, is it also therefore true that you’re nothing more than this?_

Shikamaru felt his back stiffen. The feeling of dejected anger flared into a defiant burn. _No,_ he thought resolutely. _I am not just a coward._

_Then answer me one last thing, Shikamaru. When all is said and done, are you okay with letting it all end like this?_

He felt something like fire blazing through his system, and then the paralysis left him. Spitting dirt from his mouth, Shikamaru rose to his feet. As he beat the dust off his vest, he gazed down the pathway that Ino had disappeared into, his mouth set in a firm line.

“Hell no,” he finally muttered. “I’m **_not_** okay with this.”

“... Shikamaru?”

He gave a start, having forgotten that Sakura was still there. Glancing down, Shikamaru saw that she was still crouching on the ground, eyeing him uncertainly. He gave her a curt nod.

“You were right earlier, Sakura. This is no time to be running away. And I'm through with being stupid - what about you?”

“Wha- _what_ are you talking about?!” she snapped, instantly defensive.

Shikamaru briefly raised his brows, and then gave Sakura a long, pitying kind of look. Then with an exasperated shake of his head, he kneeled down to level a hard gaze at her.

“Look, it’s okay to be afraid, but you need to be honest about your true feelings and not keep calling it something else. Or flatly ignore what’s right in front of your face.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” insisted Sakura, refusing to meet his eyes.

Sighing, Shikamaru straightened up again. “Whatever. Look - do what you want. But there’s someplace _I_ need to be now. So... see you around, Haruno.”

He turned to leave, but was brought up short by Sakura’s next outburst. “What do you possibly think you can accomplish now, Shikamaru? Didn’t you see them? Don’t you get it? They’re together now - it’s already _too late!_ ” He noted the hopeless tone to her voice. “If you go now all you’ll do is wind up making a complete ass of yourself!”

Shikamaru stood quietly for a moment, the gears of his brain whirling as he considered her words. But he no longer felt the weighty despair from before. Instead something extremely unexpected sprang to mind - it was one of those bizarre, ludicrous things Asuma had once “instructed” him in, which he had found utterly asinine at the time:

**_Sixth Rule of Combat Dating_ **

_He who hesitates is lost._

He smirked, finally understanding the wisdom of those words. 

“You’re right, Sakura. Maybe it’s already too late, maybe I’ll only wind up making an ass of myself - but then again, maybe I won’t. You never know.” He flashed her a wry smile. “After all, I’m pretty good at figuring my way out of those kind of impossible situations.”

Sakura gaped wordlessly, staring at him with all the undisguised astonishment of someone who has just witnessed their friend spontaneously sprouting a second head. Seeing her expression, Shikamaru was considering being sarcastic when another thought struck him. There was something else he really ought to say now, a topic he’d often pondered about but had never seriously imagined bringing up with Sakura:

“Another thing. This doesn’t have any bearing on anything that’s happened today, but I’m going to say it anyway. I don't know everything about your personal history with Ino. Frankly, I don't understand your style of friendship any better than Naruto’s and Sasuke’s relationship, but that’s besides the point. But having been her teammate for so long, I _do_ know this much about Ino: she’s not the kind who can sit back and do nothing when her friends are being hurt.”

The confused look on Sakura’s face at Shikamaru’s choice of topic turned somber. “I know that,” she said.

“When we were in the Forest of Death - that time when you were getting near beat to death by those psychotic Sound ninjas - you remember that it was Ino who made the decision to get in their way. She couldn’t just stand by and watch you get killed.”

“Yeah, I _know_ ,” said Sakura again, somewhat reluctantly, which in turn irritated Shikamaru. He shot her a stern look.

“What I’m trying to say is that during _all that time_ when you and she were fighting over Sasuke, she never really hated you. Even though she really liked Sasuke, she still missed being your friend even more.” His voice went hard. “Don’t you think you could at least give her some more credit for putting _you_ and your friendship above her own feelings?”

For a few moments Sakura merely stared at him, causing Shikamaru to wonder if she was about to explode in anger. But when she finally opened her mouth, there was no heat in her voice.

“Shikamaru, why are you telling me these things? Why are you _defending_ her?”

His mouth curved wryly. He didn’t know how to explain his feelings on the matter. He didn’t even know if he really wanted to _try_ explaining it - at least not out loud to the wrong person. But here at least was one thing he could truthfully admit:

“Maybe all I’m saying is... it’s easy to be wrong about someone when you’re too busy being self-righteously self-centered.”

With a final nod to Sakura’s shocked face, Shikamaru turned away. As he began to lope down the path, he turned his thoughts towards Ino, and naturally felt a return of anxiety. But he could also feel the strange, indefinable fire still coursing through his body, firming his resolve with each stride. Picturing her in his mind with single-minded determination, he broke into a run.

_I was wrong about a lot of things, Ino. Wrong about you - and wrong about me, too. You’re not the person I’ve been pegging you as, and likewise I’m not the jerk you’ve pegged me for. And I’m not going to let you reject me out of hand solely based on what you think I am. I don’t know if it will make a difference, if it really is too late now, but..._

Picking up speed, he fairly flew over the wood-lined path.

_I’m **not** giving you up without a fight!_

\-----

Sakura stared at Shikamaru’s retreating back, momentarily silenced by his parting words. Although she knew he had been including himself in that reproach, the words still managed to sting her in that peculiar way only an unpleasant truth could. Moreover, there was something surreal about Shikamaru’s entire demeanor during the past five minutes that had left her feeling wrong-footed. She could hardly believe her ears - was _Nara Shikamaru_ seriously going to risk making a fool of himself in front of Ino and Naruto? What had gotten into him?

Maybe Ino had been right all those years ago - perhaps he _did_ have a passionate side after all.

Nevertheless even as Sakura wondered over this, the stunned feeling wore off, and she began to feel the stirrings of indignant denial. 

_He called me self-centered? Me? Why that... rude JERK! What the heck is he talking about? I’m not self-centered! And even if I was, I’m certainly not as self-centered as... as INO! And in any case, I wouldn’t be SELF-RIGHTEOUS about it!_

But even as she defended herself, Sakura couldn’t shake off the unsettling notion that perhaps she was protesting too vigorously. Feeling disgruntled, she instead turned her back on pathway, determined to head home and put this entire mess out of her mind. 

_I don’t care anymore. I’m sick of all this - and it’s nothing to me what those two do together. I have Sasuke to think about. Naruto is on his own. If he’s going to be stupid enough to fall for Ino, then he’d better not come crying to me if -_

She was at the point of leaping across the canal when she noticed something stuck in the reeds. A flash of blue and yellow in the corner of her eye...

_Naruto’s boutonniere!_

Sakura hesitated, her angry face melting into a softer one. Then she kneeled down to scoop up the waterlogged sprig. Twisting it slowly in her hand, she rewound the last scene on the bank, rehearing the accusing words that had been spoken against her. That had been unpleasantly disturbing, given that she had never before heard Naruto say anything negative against her. But nothing had driven in so hard as remembering the profoundly sad expression on his face when he had deliberately dropped the boutonniere into the water.

_Why did you do that, Naruto? What were you thinking about?_

Certain that he hadn’t caught on to the fact that it was bugged, Sakura felt her heart start to thump painfully. 

_It couldn’t have been because of me... because **I** gave it to you... could it?_

At this uncomfortable thought, Sakura impulsively pressed the ruined boutonniere against her cheek and sighed. Then glancing back down at the canal, she inadvertently caught her reflection in the water - and froze.

For almost a whole minute she sat blinking at it, her heart racing wildly.

_Look at my face..._

Suddenly she forced a laugh and wrenched her eyes away.

“No way! Sakura, you’re just over-thinking things!” she declared loudly, determined to drown out the troubling thoughts that were flooding into her mind. “Naruto probably just got tired of wearing it - that’s all! It has nothing to do with _you_.” 

Reassured that she was on her way to conquering the inner battle, Sakura paused to reflect on her last conversation with Shikamaru. Another doubt entered her head:

_It’s okay to be afraid, but you need to be honest about your true feelings and not keep calling it something else._

Her stomach tightened as the vision of Naruto returned. Then she scowled and pointed down at the water, as if to angrily ward off this latest attack. 

“Afraid? Me? As if! That jerk Nara - _he_ actually thinks I need to be more honest with my feelings? I’m _always_ honest about my feelings!”

As she glared challengingly down at her reflection, Sakura reached out and poked the surface of the water. She watched with satisfaction as the image dissolved into ripples, but within a few moments the frowning face had reformed itself. Mystified, Sakura was leaning in further to inspect this when, to her utter shock, the reflection broke into a wide smirk. Then a loud, distinctive voice spoke clearly in her head:

_< So... is this a private conversation, Sakura, or can any Inner Psyche butt in?>_


End file.
